Wanderer of the Sand
by SkywardShadow
Summary: Shara left Sunagakure years ago, and is now a rogue ninja. When she decides to test her limits by entering the Chunin Exams, though, she gets more chaos, flashbacks, and confusion than she bargained for. Eventual GaaraxOC. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Just my OC.

**Wanderer of the Sand**

**Chapter I**

I was six years old again.

Back in Sand Village.

Playing in the dirt, bored out of my mind. It seemed like all of the Sunagakure kids were brats; I didn't associate with them much.

"Aww, man!" Aforementioned kids moaned. I glanced up. They'd been playing a ball game nearby; apparently someone had kicked the ball too hard. That, coupled with the wind, had, sent the ball flying up into a crevice in the cliff high above.

Looked like game over, as none of us had yet learned the jutsu necessary to go up and get it. But-wait.

I blinked. Several times, to make absolutely sure that my eyes weren't playing tricks on me.

They weren't. Sand, a thin trail of it, was snaking upward, climbing the cliff until it surrounded the ball and brought it down gently into the hands of a small boy I hadn't noticed.

My first thought was that the boy was just..cute. Probably about five or six, with red hair and bright blue eyes. Dressed simply, and dragging a large stuffed bear around. Adorable. The interesting things about his appearance were the thick black rings around his eyes. Like he'd never slept before in his life.

He stepped toward the other kids, smiling nervously, offering one of the boys the ball. "Here," he said shyly.

Just as the thought _He seems nice_ crossed my mind, the boy who had been offered the ball gasped. His eyes grew huge, until they practically threatened to pop out of his head. He took several steps back, face stricken with terror.

"It-it's him," he choked out. "It's Gaara!" The same look of fear appeared on the faces of all the other kids. _Huh?_ I thought in confusion. _What's the matter with him?_

Suddenly, all the kids screamed and started running. _What the-?!_

"Wait!" Gaara cried, stretching an arm out after them. He looked so confused and upset; I felt sorry for him.

Then sand, streams of it, came out of the desert floor and knocked the running kids to the ground. The screams intensified.

I heard a sickening crack, followed by a terrible shriek. Shivers raced up my spine. Had that boy's _leg _just been broken?!

I glanced back at Gaara. He still had that miserable expression on his face. He _couldn't_ be doing this.

Could he?

Just as the sand streams darted for another kid, somebody leapt out of the shadows and in front of the kid, holding their arms in front of their face for defense. I winced as the sand hit, tearing deep gashes in the person's forehead and arms.

"Please calm yourself, Gaara-sama!" the person cried imploringly.

The sand halted its attack, and I squinted to get a better look at the person. It was a violet-eyed man with long blond hair, dressed in the uniform of a medical ninja.

Once more I looked back at Gaara.

He stared guiltily at the ground.

Then I woke up.

Thirteen years old again.

And Gaara was nowhere in sight.

I sighed. Of course he wasn't. Why would he be? He was probably still back in Sunagakure, the Village Hidden in the Sand. His home.

For a short eight years, my home as well.

No matter what the Kazekage had said, I still considered Sunagakure the place where I belonged.

But that was in the past.

For a minute I just sat there in my tree, lost in memories.

Then two things happened at once.

The wind picked up heavily, and a kunai knife came zooming out of nowhere, directly at my head.

I ducked, hearing a dull thud as the kunai lodged itself in my tree, right where my head had been a moment before.

What was it? Who could I _possibly_ have offended this time?

Quietly, I unsheathed my katana and crouched. I wobbled slightly on the tree's thin branch, silently cursing the fact that balance had never been my strong suit.

A voice came drifting from a few yards ahead; sticks on the forest floor cracked under someone's feet. I braced myself.

"….landed right around…there!"

A girl hurried into view. I blinked. She hardly looked the assassin type.

She was pretty, with brown eues and brown hair pulled into two buns at the top of her head. She was carrying a large scroll, wearing a pink top, and-ah.

A forehead protector bearing the symbol for Konohagakure, or Konoha. The Village Hidden in the Leaves.

A kunoichi. A female ninja. Like me.

_Huh,_ I thought. _I must've ended up closer to the village than I meant to._

The girl frowned in confusion when she saw me in my tree.

Then, unexpectedly, she smiled.

"You must be here for the Chunin Exams. Right?"

Huh? Chunin Exams?

Wait…I vaguely remembered some bit of gossip I'd heard en route to Konoha.

The Chunin Exams were…Well, pretty much what they sounded like. A series of tests designed to determine which shinobi were worthy of promotion to the rank of Chunin.

Shinobi came from all villages, either as entrants or as spectators. Only thing was, you had to enter in three-person cells.

Long story short: You wanted promotion to Chunin, you had to be good, and you had to be part of a team.

As a 'missing nin,' or 'rogue ninja,' or whatever you wanted to call me, I was out.

Not that I cared, really. As long as your skills were up to scratch, who cared about labels like Chunin?

But this girl evidently though that I was here for the exams, so, figuring it would just be easier to go along with what she said, I nodded.

"Sorry about that," she added, gesturing to her stray kunai. "I threw it just as the wind picked up; it got carried over here."

I nodded again. As it didn't seem she had tried to kill me, I wrenched the kunai out of my tree and tossed it into the ground at her feet.

"Thanks," she said as she picked it up. "I'm Tenten, by the way."

I hesitated. Then decided what the heck. She seemed okay, and I could always make up an alias if the worst happened.

"Shara of Sand Village," I told her. My voice sounded dry and cracked; it hadn't been used in a while.

"Sand Village, huh? Nice to meet you," Tenten replied cheerfully.

"Tenten, unless your kunai grew legs and ran away, you've got to have found it," a boys' voice called dryly.

"Oh-I have it, Neji!"

"Then come on; you're holding up our training."

Tenten looked up at me. "See you around," she said before turning and hurrying off.

I stared for a second at the spot where she'd stood.

Out of habit I reached up to make sure my bangs were still in place over my cut. They were.

I sheathed my katana and leaned back against the tree trunk.

And I guess I fell asleep again, because the next thing I knew I was dreaming once more.

Remembering.

**To Be Continued………………**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto….There is no way the series would be so popular! Put simply, I do not own Naruto. Just my OC.

**Wanderer of the Sand**

**Chapter II**

………………………………………..

My parents had always wanted a boy.

For some reason, that was my first dream-thought.

Father was sure that any son of his would be a brilliant shinobi, and Mother just went along with whatever Father said.

Actually, Father himself had shown great promise as a child. He could have easily and quickly moved up through the ninja ranks. But right before he turned thirteen, he was involved in an accident that broke his arm and shattered the bones in both his legs. His arm would heal in time, but his legs were beyond repair. Every day since, he'd needed to use a cane. He probably wanted the glory he'd never had to shine through his son.

Then I was born, and both my parents were bitterly disappointed. Father's actions afterward explained everything quite clearly.

Unless I did something wrong, he wanted nothing to do with me. For most of my childhood, he pretended I didn't exist.

I don't think I was even five years old before I insisted on becoming a shinobi. Don't misunderstand; by that point I didn't give a rat's tail what my father thought of me. This wasn't about proving myself to him or anything. I guess I just wanted to prove something to _myself_, instead. Prove that I wasn't as worthless as Father and Mother pretended I was.

It was obvious that Mother disapproved deeply. But Father didn't care, of course, so she didn't speak a word against it.

I worked hard to train myself, but I didn't make any progress fast. Eventually, someone saw me miss the target with a shuriken-for the hundredth time-and took pity on me. He taught me.

Oddly, I have no memory of what my teacher looked like. Or his name. I just called him 'Sensei.' But he was a great ninja, and he taught me as well as he could.

Abruptly my dream shifted.

It was the night of the incident with Gaara and the other Sunagakure kids. The man who'd jumped out of nowhere had led Gaara away somewhere, so I went home as well.

An hour or so later, I was walking around the village when I noticed Gaara walking down the street.

I was bored, and this boy interested me, so I followed him from a distance. He was carrying a brown sack and smiling.

He stopped at one of the houses and knocked. I hid behind the house next door and peeked out carefully.

The boy who answered was the one whose leg had been hurt earlier. It was in a bandage.

Looking shy again, Gaara held out the sack. "I'm sorry about earlier," he apologized. "It must have hurt. This is wound ointment-please, take-"

The boy cut him off harshly.

"Go home, monster."

The door slammed.

My jaw dropped in horror. How could anyone be that awful? My eyes watered.

I bit my lip until it bled, determined not to cry. But in seconds the tears were spilling over and I knew it was futile, that any moment now I was going to start howling.

So, as quietly as possible, I turned and ran for home.

When I opened my eyes, my cheeks were wet.

I blinked, wiping the tears away.

_Why all these memories?_ I wondered. _Why now?_

I shook my head. "Enough already," I told myself sternly. "You aren't going to see him again. Or Mother and Father, or home for that matter. It's been five years. Let it go."

It was true. As long as the Kazekage lived, I could never set foot in Sunagakure. Heck, even if he died, the people of Sand Village would still consider me a traitor, after what I did.

It was my own fault. Reminiscing was pointless.

I mentally changed the subject.

The Chunin Exams. I'd heard that the final test was like some sort of tournament, and that sounded good.

Hmm……

All right, I thought. I might as well stay in Konoha for the Exams.

Why not? I might meet some interesting people.

After coming to this conclusion, I pounced off the branch of my tree and started walking.

Aimlessly, of course. I didn't have the faintest idea where I was anymore. The forest on the outskirts of Konohagakure. That was all I knew about my location.

After a minute or so I came to the village. I looked up at the night sky. The stars. I found them comforting, maybe because of their consistency.

No matter what happened, the stars always stayed the same. Even people in Sunagakure could, at this very moment, be looking at the same stars I was.

I liked that.

Another wave of nostalgia threatened to swallow me, but was fought off by the sight of a shadowy person sitting on one of the roofs.

I blinked.

_Crap, here come the memories..._

_Memories._

_A world of memories._

_That's where I am?_

_No, Sunagakure._

_Both?_

_I'm laying on the road in the Sand Village, looking up at the sky. _

_Trying to get a decent view of the stars. That's me, amateur shinobi stargazer??_

_Nothing makes sense._

_Someone's on the roof, a few houses away._

_Looking at the moon?_

_Half-moon tonight._

_That's a good idea, I think. You get a better view on the roof._

_So I climb up onto the roof too. Next to the person. What can I say? I'm an impulsive child. Six years old, I think._

_I think._

_Who is this little boy??_

_Ohhh. Gaara. I saw him earlier today._

_He turns to me. He's confused._

"_Hi," I say cheerfully. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Shara. What's your name?"_

_I already know his name. But I'm making an attempt at conversation._

_After the episode of the boy with the hurt leg, I had asked Mother what was wrong with Gaara._

_She looked at me like I was stupid._

_She said "He's a monster. Don't associate with him."_

"_Why?"_

"_He carries the Shukaku, the Sand Demon, within him. He can't sleep. It keeps him awake. Gaara is the greatest weapon of Sunagakure. And at the same time he might kill us all."_

_She wouldn't say another word on the subject._

_So I'm disobeying. I'm talking to him. I'm a bad girl._

_I don't care._

_Gaara is still silent._

"_It's not a hard question," I tease._

"_Gaara."_

"_Cool."_

_I pause, thinking of something else to say._

"_You're really cute."_

_He looks completely stunned._

_I smile._

"_I'll see you tomorrow," I say happily, climbing off the roof._

_I've stargazed from the roof a lot since then._

My mind cleared. I blinked.

_What was __**that**__?!_ I thought. My memories didn't usually come in shattered pieces that made no sense.

"I hate how my brain works," I grumbled, turning my attention back to the figure on the roof.

I couldn't tell a thing from here. I didn't know if the figure was male or female or anything.

I started to walk for the roof, but I decided not to disturb whoever it was. Instead, I turned and headed back to my tree.

I entered the clearing in which my tree resided and scowled, pulling out my katana.

"That," I said in a low, angry voice, "would be my tree. Quit. Throwing. Shuriken. At. It."

A boy in a bright orange jumpsuit turned around. He had spiky blond hair and blue eyes, and what looked like whiskers or something on his cheeks. And a Konoha forehead protector.

"Wha-Who the heck are you?!" he exclaimed.

"None of your business. Now get your frickin' shuriken out of my tree."

"_Your_ tree?"

"Yes."

"This isn't your tree! I throw shuriken here all the time! You aren't even from around here!"

I raised an eyebrow. "How do you know?" I knew the words sounded idiotic even as I said them.

"I've lived here all my life, duh! You aren't from Konoha, and you can't tell me what to do!"

_What a loudmouth,_ I thought. _Every sentence ends with an exclamation point. What is up with that?!_

I took a deep breath. "Fine. Will you _please_ stop throwing shuriken at m-at the tree?"

He shrugged and started wrenching throwing stars out of the tree trunk.

"_Thank_ you," I growled.

He grinned. "So, where _are_ you from, anyway? You don't have a forehead protector. Did you not graduate or something?"

I had never wanted to strangle someone so soon after meeting them before. _Congrats, loudmouth, you broke a record._

Well….Come to think of it, he was right. I _hadn't_ graduated. I fought the urge to reach up and pat down my bangs again.

Ignoring the graduation question, I answered tightly, "Sunagakure. Sand Village."

"Huh? Then why didn't you come with the other three? You _are_ here for the Chunin Exams, right?"

Other three? There were Sand shinobi here?

"Who are the others?" I asked.

"Uhh, let me think….A blond girl with a giant fan, a weird guy wearing a hood and makeup, and a redheaded guy with a kanji carved into his forehead."

Kanji? Red hair?

My stomach twisted into a knot and fell to my shoes.

"What…what was the last guy's name?" I fought to keep my voice normal.

"Gaara of the Sand. He's kinda creepy, but he's only interested in fighting _Sasuke_." He said the name with disgust. "That's why I'm out here so late. Gotta train!"

When I spoke, my voice was much higher-pitched than normal. "Could you…please…go away?"

"Huh?!" But he seemed to notice how out of it I was, and started edging away.

"Uh, I'm Uzumaki Naruto, by the way."

"Shara…of Sand Village…"

"Nice to meet you. See ya tomorrow!"

I barely registered him leaving.

My mind had short-circuited the moment he said the name Gaara.

_He…..is __**here**__……??_

**To Be Continued………….**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Just my OC.**

Wanderer of the Sand

Chapter III

………………………………………………..

I attempted to act like it was no big deal.

I mean, really. So Gaara was here. So…?

He was someone from Suna, and he was originally someone I'd wanted to be friends with. That was probably why the news had shaken me so bad. He was a walking reminder of my past.

So I climbed up into my tree, propped myself on the usual branch, and tried to go back to sleep. If I was going to hang around Konoha, I had to get back into a relatively normal sleep pattern.

But it goes without saying. I was awake all night.

Not an exaggeration. My eyes were still wide open when the sun came up.

Sighing and exhausted, I jumped clumsily to the ground and wandered a bit more, trying to find a good training spot.

Only problem was, once I found one…

_You have __**got **__to be kidding me._

_More_ Konoha shinobi?? What was this, a playground?! Weren't there training spots _inside_ the village?!

I fought to keep a temper tantrum born of extreme tiredness and hunger from coming to the surface. With difficulty, I managed. Just as I turned to leave, I heard the unthinkable-someone calling my name.

"Shara! Is that you?" I almost choked. _Please, God, no…_

But yes. It was, of all people, Tenten. Disgustingly cheerful, even at this hour, and training with who I assumed were her teammates and sensei.

One was a boy with long, dark brown hair and pale eyes. I wondered if he was blind. He looked pretty serious. The other boy was…well…different. He had big, round eyes and black hair in a bowl cut. And the largest eyebrows I had ever seen. Big, fuzzy caterpillars had nothing on this guy. And the attire was something else. A blindingly green jumpsuit, bright orange legwarmer things, bandages wrapped around his arms. And a Konoha forehead protector being used as a belt.

And then there was the man. Who basically looked like an adult version of the second boy, jumpsuit and all, except with even bigger eyebrows. _Konoha is a frightening place…_

I slowly stepped forward. Tenten smiled. "Hello again!" "Hello…." I muttered. The others were staring. I _hate_ it when people stare.

"Oh-these are my teammates," Tenten explained. "Hyuga Neji-" she gestured to the serious-looking boy-"Rock Lee-" the eyebrow boy-"and Might Guy-sensei."

_I suppose I have to introduce myself_, I thought apprehensively. "I'm Shara of Sand Village. Nice to meet you." Which was totally at odds with what my face said. It probably said something like "_If you even __**try**__ to make me say anything more, I will hurt you_."

Just great.

I forced a smile on my face. It probably looked as painful as it felt.

"Ah! So you would be here for the Chunin Exams, correct?" _The Chunin Exams, always the Chunin Exams…_

"Yes, um, Guy-sensei."

"The Exams are always interesting. To be promoted, of course, you must have skill, courage, and above all, youth!"

I blinked. _Am I asleep? Is this a nightmare? Is there something wrong with the Konoha water? Or is this guy just crazy and the rest of them are too nice to say anything?_

I honestly had no clue. Tenten was still smiling. "Would you like to train with us?" she offered. _I would be eternally grateful if a bolt of lightning or something would just strike me down now…_

I said nothing. A long and painful silence ensued. After a minute, the Neji guy sighed and said irritably, "If you don't want to, just say so."

"I-I-It's just that-I, um, already…trained…." The excuse was pathetic. I knew it, and they knew it, and I probably looked like a stuck-up jerk. What was it that Sensei had said? "You can never train too much."

_Relax,_ I told myself. _Just…calm..down._

So I muttered something along the lines of "It was nice to meet you" and left with whatever traces of dignity I could muster.

I was sick of the forest by this point, so I walked in what I hoped was the direction of the village. Trying to repair my shattered "Calm, cool, collected" façade in the process.

I had managed to do so pretty well by the time I ended up in Konohagakure. I looked around. Kids chasing each-other around, people gossiping in quiet, excited little groups, and of course, plenty of shinobi. More so than usual, I'd wager; I saw people wearing forehead protectors from several villages, including the somewhat elusive Sound Village.

I was looking around too much, and not enough at where I was going. Of course, I bumped into someone. Hard. I staggered back. "I apologize," I said, not wanting to attract any attention.

The response was silence. I looked at who I had bumped into.

And immediately wondered why he looked so familiar. Black hair in an almost birdish style, a wide-collared blue top, and hard, almost icy dark eyes.

The air he gave off bordered on the murderous.

Caught slightly off-guard, I said quietly, "I apologize." Again.

"You said that already," he pointed out coolly. And he walked off.

I shook my head. I knew I'd meet some interesting people, but…Crazy guys with giant eyebrows, an overly cheerful kunoichi, a loudmouth young ninja, and an almost bloodthirsty ice boy?

_Ice boy?_ I shook my head. I was overreacting. I was not the best at reading people.

_Obviously. Look at what happened with Yashamaru. You thought he seemed like a good guy, too._

I cursed myself.

Needless to say, another flashback was on the way…

Great.

**To be continued…..**

**A/N: Mosi Mosi, Skyward here. This chapter is dedicated to Xx-Dea-Of-Latum-Xx, who so kindly reviewed and put this story on alert. Domo Arigato!! **


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, you would probably avoid the series like the plague. XD In other words, I do not own Naruto. Just my OC.

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated LadyAmazon, 4eva-broken-harted, and Rika Tetnomi. Thank you for reviewing, Favoriting, and Alerting!**

Wanderer of the Sand

Chapter IV

……………………………

_Somebody screamed._

_**What in the Five Great Shinobi Nations-?! **_

_It had been perfectly peaceful. Quiet night, almost silent village, as per usual._

_Until that agonized scream tore through the silence with the speed and sharpness of a shuriken. _

_I jumped off the roof and toward the sound as fast as I could. It was coming from another roof…My heart sank. It was the roof that Gaara usually watched the moon from._

_As quietly as possible I started to climb up the siding to see what was going on. But I had barely gotten off the ground when-_

_**BOOM.**_

_I was thrown back to the ground as the whole place shook. Fire briefly shot out past the edges of the roof. I almost screamed myself; whoever had been up there couldn't possibly have survived an explosion at such close range. _

_But yet I heard a faint noise coming from the roof. _

_It was the quiet sound of someone sobbing._

_A boy, I guessed, although it was hard to tell. My heart pounded. __**Is it him?**_

_The sobs quieted, then were replaced quickly by a long, loud yell of rage and pain._

_I started shaking. What was going on up there?_

_Scared almost out of my wits, I scrambled to my feet and ran home. Where, of course, I was berated by Mother for staying out so late. But I was too shaken to really care._

_The next day was awful._

_At first, when I saw Gaara walking down the street, I was just so relieved that he was okay. It took a moment for me to notice the changes in his face._

_His eyes were narrowed; any hope of a smile gone, it seemed. His face was hard, icy, deadly. It was frightening._

_Carved into his forehead was a red scar. The kanji for 'Love.'_

_He still clutched his stuffed bear, but even the bear seemed less a cuddly stuffed animal and more of a terrified hostage. _

_Needless to say, I was pretty confused. I hurried up to him, smiling. "Hi, Gaara!"_

_He glanced at me. Then kept walking._

_**Um…what?**__ I walked up to his side. "Did you hear that explosion last night? I was right underneath it; it was really scary, but I wonder who did it? I think someone was hurt in it." I just babbled on and on, stupidly, carelessly, in a vain and desperate attempt to spark a conversation._

_He glared. The eye contact sent violent shivers down my back. His eyes were….how to explain it? Different. Colder. Angrier. _

_And filled to the brim with hatred. Dark, depthless, and currently aimed at me._

"_G-Gaara?" I stammered nervously._

_He didn't say a word. Just walked on as if I'd never spoken._

_I frowned, confused and slightly hurt. What had I done to make him so angry with me?_

_I went for a walk around the training grounds to think, and I accidentally overheard two Jounin talking in hushed voices nearby._

"_The Kazekage's plan failed," one muttered. "The Shukaku is even more powerful and dangerous than we thought." _

"_Obviously," the other responded darkly. "Yashamaru was highly skilled, for a medical ninja. Now he's dead, and what do we have to show for it?"_

_I gulped. Gaara had once mentioned that Yashamaru was his uncle. The man who'd jumped in to save that child when Gaara had gone out of control. _

_So he had died? Was that why Gaara was so upset?_

"_We'll just have to send someone better next time. Yashamaru wasn't powerful enough to assassinate the boy, but there are much more powerful shinobi the Kazekage could send…."_

_It was as if a very cold fist had just bashed me in the back of my head. I walked away, fighting to process this horrible information._

_Days went by. Days became weeks, weeks months, et cetera. _

_For a while, I kept trying to interact with Gaara, but to no avail. He had completely shut out the world._

_I'd be lying if I said it didn't hurt. But I kept trying. _

_Then the bodies of some of the Kazekage's elite assassin shinobi began turning up, one after the other. _

_Nobody needed to explain it to me-the assassins had been ordered to eliminate Gaara, and he had killed them in response. _

_The scary thing was, his face never changed. Even the night after he had killed someone, he still walked around with no remorse showing through._

_It was around that time that I began to give up on getting him to talk to me. I still watched him sometimes, and whenever I trained, I pretended my kunai or shuriken target was the Kazekage's head._

_I hated that man for what he was doing to Gaara._

_A person can only keep calm for so long._

_For me, it was two years._

_Then I snapped, and did something incredibly stupid._

_Thwack._

"Ouch," I muttered, glaring at the tree I had just walked into.

I was starting to get irritated with the constant onslaught of memories.

_What should I do now?_ I wondered.

In the end I decided to find out exactly when the Chunin Exams took place.

I was going to try and tag along.

"_Today?!_" I yelped in disbelief. The ramen shop owner frowned. "Yes,_ today_. Starts down at the Academy, I think. Now do you want a bowl or not?"

I shook my head-"Cheapskate," he muttered-and started walking distractedly down the street.

"Today," I murmured. "Right. So how am I going to slip in? Do they have security or something? And what am I going to do about a forehead protector, they'll probably kick me out if I don't have one…."

Well. I was just going to have to improvise.

Hours passed, and I started to notice Genin heading for the big building I assumed was the Academy.

I melted into the rush, pushed through the doors, and…

_Whoa._

I had never seen so many Genin in one place before. I could see the black-haired boy with the dark eyes being clung to from behind by a skinny blond kunoichi. A second female ninja with long pink hair (??) looked on, obviously annoyed. Standing next to her was….whatshisname, the loudmouth…..Naruto maybe?

I saw Tenten, Neji and Lee, though they didn't see me (thank heaven).

And then I noticed the back of what looked like a huge fan bobbing above people's heads a few feet away.

The crowd in front of the bobbing fan parted for some reason. I blinked. _Is that….?_

_No. No, no, no, no, no….._

Red hair. 'Love' etched into his forehead. Ice-blue eyes ringed with thick black. A gourd on his back. And a cold expression that hadn't changed a bit in five years.

_Gaara._

It was.

_No no no no no….._

I was panicking.

_Calm down. Chill. He won't recognize you._

I backed away, slipping back into the safety of the crowd.

_What was I __**thinking**__, coming here?!_

Well, there was no turning back now.

_This is where things get interesting…_

To Be Continued…..


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto…Chaos would ensue. Besides my OC, no, I do not own Naruto.

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Amberle May, skcorteksabstiurf, Dark Angelic Messanger, and Karikari-Taitai; thank you for reviewing** **and Alerting!**

Wanderer of the Sand

Chapter V

………………………………………………….

Ninja were everywhere. I could see forehead protectors from Sand, Sound, Leaf, Rain, Mist, etc.

Everyone was just sort of hanging around, so I took the time to focus on how this was going to work. According to the man at the ramen shop, and various bits of gossip, the Chunin Exams were divided into three parts. The third part was the tournament, and I was pretty sure that they'd have a written exam first, as a prelude to the action.

There was just one part left, and I couldn't figure out what it would be. Maybe we'd have to practice a really elite jutsu or something like that.

I couldn't very well just sit in on the written exam; either the Genin or the proctors would notice that something was off, as everyone else had entered in three-shinobi cells. And then there was my painfully obvious lack of a forehead protector.

No, sitting in definitely would _not_ be a good idea. I needed to stay out of sight as much as possible, so my best bet would be to wait until we were lead to the exam room and hide right before we got there.

And then the tournament…How was I going to get into _that?_

I attempted to think on the answer to that question, but was constantly interrupted by shouts from the other end of the room. Every time I looked, more people had joined the noisy group. At the moment, the group was comprised of Ice-boy (…well, I didn't know his real name…), Naruto, the skinny blond kunoichi, the pink-haired kunoichi, a chubby boy clutching a bag of chips and chomping so fast I couldn't believe he could breathe, an irritated-looking boy with a ponytail reminiscent of a pineapple, a scruffy-haired guy with red marks on his face, a boy wearing sunglasses (??), and a dark-haired girl with eyes that looked like Neji's.

"What?! No way!!" _Another_ shout. I glared in their general direction. _What the heck is going on over there?!_

"Sasuke might lose to the likes of you, but I won't! Believe it!" Oh, jeez. It was the loudmouth ninja. Naruto.

Before things could go any further, a tall, glasses-wearing boy with grey hair walked over to the group, frowning. He wore a Leaf Village forehead protector. I edged closer. Was this boy going to attempt to shut them up?

"….screaming like schoolgirls……Jeez," the boy was saying, shaking his head. "You guys are just rookies. Fresh out of the Academy, right? This isn't a game."

"Who do you think you are?" the blond kunoichi demanded angrily.

"Kabuto," was the reply. "Look behind you." They did. Standing there was a group of ninja, fury in their eyes. "Village Hidden in the Rain," Kabuto explained. "They're very hot-tempered. Everyone's on edge about the Exams, so you might want to avoid making a scene. But I guess I can't fault you. You're just clueless rookies. I used to be that way, too."

The pink-haired girl addressed him nervously. "So then this is your second time taking the Exams?" "Seventh. The Exams take place twice every year, and this is my fourth year."

Huh. That was odd. Kabuto gave off an air of someone strong and confident, and he certainly didn't seem like an idiot. So how had he managed to fail the Exams six times? Were they really _that_ tough?

"I suppose I'll share some information with you rookies," he continued. I blinked. _If he calls them 'rookies' one more time…._

He fanned out a bunch of cards. "These are Nin-Info Cards. Basically, they have ninja stats and other information burned into them with chakra." He knelt down and placed a card on the floor. I frowned. It was blank. "You can only see the info if I use my chakra," Kabuto explained, touching a finger to the card. Energy swirled around for a moment, and then a graph appeared on the card showing how many shinobi had come to the Exams from which villages.

"Do you have any information on individual shinobi?" Ice-boy asked bluntly. Kabuto grinned. "Yeah. Why, are there some guys you're worried about? I'll see what I've got."

"Rock Lee, from Leaf, and Gaara of the Sand."

I bit my lip. Why was he asking about Gaara? And why did the name Rock Lee sound familiar?

Kabuto swiped his hand over two cards and placed the first one on the floor. It had a picture of Eyebrow Boy on it. "First up is Rock Lee. He's a year older than you guys. His Taijutsu improved enormously this year, and last year he was recognized as a talented young ninja. He's completed 20 D-rank missions and 12 C-rank missions, and this is his first shot at the Chunin Exams. Nothing else worth noting."

He put the second card down. "Next is Gaara of the Desert. He's completed 8 C-rank missions, and…..Wow. One B-rank mission. As a Genin, too. He's a newcomer, and from a foreign country, so I don't have all that much on him. But apparently he's returned from every mission without a scratch."

Kabuto grinned again. "Every village has sent amazingly talented Genin to take the Exams. Well, Otogakure, the Village Hidden in the Sound, is a small village only recently created, so there's not much info. But every other Hidden Village has sent their best."

"I-It really is enough to m-make you lose your c-confidence," the dark-haired girl stammered, sounding as if she might faint.

"So basically," said the pink-haired kunoichi, "all the Genin here are-"

"Yup," was Kabuto's reply. "Like Lee and Gaara. Geniuses. This isn't going to be easy."

I glanced sideways. Naruto was looking nervous.

The pink-haired girl put a hand on his shoulder, but his head suddenly shot up and he yelled in the loudest voice I'd ever heard,

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto!! And I'm not going to lose to any of you, believe it!!"

"….." I was speechless. _He really is a loudmouth. Honestly! He's just voluntarily made himself Public Enemy Number One!_

And I thought _I_ was stupid.

To Be Continued….


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Once again, I do not own Naruto. Except for my OC. (I sound like a broken record; gomenasai….)

Wanderer of the Sand

Chapter VI

…………………………………………………….

I shook my head as the pink-haired kunoichi grabbed Naruto from behind.

"What are you doing?!" he shouted. "I was just telling the truth!" I facepalmed. What was this idiot thinking? I could almost feel the anger coming from the other shinobi. In _waves_.

If I doubted that Naruto was an idiot before, that doubt was long gone now. "I-I'm sorry, everyone," the kunoichi stammered nervously, trying to do damage control. "My friend here is a real idiot; he doesn't know what he's saying." She then dragged Naruto off to a corner and proceeded to tell him off.

I felt something brush past me. I turned and saw a wild-haired ninja wearing a Sound Village forehead protector leap into the air and fling two kunai knives at Kabuto. Kabuto stepped back to avoid them, looking perfectly calm. But then a second Sound ninja, this one's face covered almost entirely in bandages, got in his face and aimed a vicious punch at him. Again, Kabuto dodged the attack-but barely. A moment later, his glasses cracked.

Kabuto's eyes widened in surprise, and he suddenly fell to his knees, vomiting. Everyone turned in shock to the attackers. There was the wild-haired guy with giant kanjis written on his shirt, the creepy bandaged guy with a big furry.._thing_ on his back, and a pretty black-haired girl with a hard expression. All of them gave off an icy, intimidating air. All were Sound shinobi.

Naruto and the pink-haired girl rushed to Kabuto's side. "How pathetic," sneered the bandaged guy. "Aren't you supposed to be a four-year veteran?" "Add this to your Nin-Info Cards," the wild-haired guy added. "The three Sound shinobi; definite future Chunin!"

"All of you, shut up!" someone bellowed. The Genin whipped around. A whole crowd of Jounin had appeared at the front of the classroom.

The man who had spoken was a hard-faced, scarred guy wearing a long black coat. "Thanks for waiting," he said with a mirthless chuckle. "I am Morino Ibiki, your examiner for the first test."

He pointed at the Sound Village ninja. "Quit doing as you please before the Exams." "We apologize," the bandaged guy said calmly. "We got a little…carried away."

Ibiki smirked. "Let me make this very clear. No fights without the permission of your examiner. Even if you do get permission, you may not kill your opponent. Disobey, and you'll be out on your ear. Am I understood?" Nobody, not even Naruto the Loudmouth, was stupid enough to say anything. "Now," Ibiki said. "Take a seat, an we'll begin the first test of the Chunin Exams."

_Take a seat?_ Oh, no. Oh, _no_! This _was_ the exam room! How could I have been such an idiot as to think it wasn't?! _I'm dead. I'm finished, I'm so finished!_

_No. I will remain….perfectly….calm. I just need to keep my head down and avoid attracting attention at all costs!_

My nerves were shot. But thankfully, the Loudmouth attracted so much attention that there hopefully wouldn't be any left for me. Hopefully.

"A _paper test_?!" Naruto yelped, sounding as if he was about to have his fingers ripped off, one by one.

I took a seat near the middle. As inconspicuous as possible. I sat, resisting the urge to fidget, or panic, or just scream bloody, bloody murder and run like the wind.

No, that would _not_ be good. So I sat like a rock. The real test to my composure came when people started sitting next to me-the pink-haired kunoichi, for one.

"I will now explain the rules to the test," Ibiki announced. "Listen closely, because you are not allowed to ask questions."

He wrote the rules on the chalkboard as he talked. At the end, I ran over them in my head.

Everyone started with 10 points, and there were 10 questions to the test. You lost a point for every question you got wrong. For the shinobi in teams, pass or fail would be determined by the team's total points. Anyone caught cheating would lose two points. If you lost all of your points, you would get kicked out. And if one person failed, their entire team failed. To make sure nobody got away with cheating, a group of Jounin sat in the back of the classroom, keeping an eye on everyone.

"The exam will last one hour," Ibiki concluded gravely. "Begin!"

There was a _hsshh_ sound as everyone turned over their papers.

I looked down at mine, somewhat nervously. The first question was a cryptogram. I winced. Coding?! I'd left Suna before sensei could teach me. I looked down at question number two.

After about twenty minutes, I had managed to answer four of the questions.

Four. Out of ten.

This was not good at all.

Question ten was odd, though. It said that the question would be given 45 minutes into the exam. Strange. Konoha had interesting teaching methods.

I forced myself to relax. After all, I didn't really care about making Chunin.

Come to think of it, why had I even entered the Exams? Hmm. I had probably just wanted to see how I measured up to all these so-called geniuses, having very little actual training.

But right now I had to focus. These questions were unbelievably difficult. How could anyone here answer them, unless they….?

….

I really _was_ an idiot.

Cheating. It was the only possible way to answer these questions. I was furious with myself. Of course. This was an information-gathering test. To see how well we could learn, how well we could spy, without getting caught. Now that I realized, it was obvious.

But how the heck was I supposed to get answers while being watched by Jounin _and_ Genin (who I assumed had also figured it out), all the while trying to keep the lowest possible profile?

One of the boys in front stood. "How many teams will pass the first exam?" he asked Ibiki.

"Sit down and shut up. It's not like knowing will help you," was the gruff reply. The boy returned to his seat.

A few more minutes passed. Suddenly a kunai came flying and hit someone's desk with a thunk. "You messed up five times," one of the proctors said with a smirk. "You and your teammates, get out of here." "No way," the boy gulped. But in seconds he and his team had left the room.

I sighed mentally. The proctors were good. So how…?

Ah.

I picked up my pencil and bent over my test sheet, putting a look of extreme concentration on my face. Pretending to focus on Question 7, I listened to the pink-haired kunoichi. She was supposed to be pretty smart, from what I'd heard. And she'd been writing more than anyone else since the exam started. _I'm sorry about this,_ I thought wearily.

I listened as hard as I could to the scratching sounds made by her pencil. _Okay…So the answer to number 6 is…_

I felt kind of bad, but it was necessary. If I was right, the bandaged Sound guy was using a similar technique-listen very, very closely to the number of strokes made by the pencil, then use logic and a bit of luck to determine the answer. It was a hard way to cheat, but it worked.

25 minutes and a bunch of failed teams later, Ibiku stood and cleared his throat. "All right," he said. "It's time for the 10th Question."

The nervousness in the room went up by about 300 percent.

"Now first, I'd like to go over the added rules for this question…."

To Be Continued……


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Because six times just wasn't enough, I shall say it again-I do not own Naruto. Just my OC.

**A/N: Chapter Seven is out early to make up for the fact that the next chapter is going to be late, gomenasai. This chapter is dedicated to jinxedpixie; thank you for reviewing and Favoriting!!**

Wanderer of the Sand

Chapter VII

…………………………………………………

More rules? That meant more complications. More chances of getting caught. Wonderful…..

"First," Ibiki said, "you must decide whether to take it or not."

"_Choose_?!" one of the girls burst out, sounding exasperated. I blinked. It was the blond girl, hair pulled into four spiky buns, the one with the fan. The sand kunoichi. Back at Suna, I'd heard her name was Temari. She was the only daughter and eldest child of the Kazekage. Gaara's older sister. "What happens if we don't take the question?" she demanded.

"Your points will be taken to zero," was the reply. "You and your teammates will fail." "Then of course we'll take the question!!" a boy called. "Why wouldn't we?!" another boy added.

"Well, there is one more rule…" Ibiki responded calmly. He fixed us with his hard gaze.

"If you try to answer to question and answer it incorrectly, you will never be allowed to take the Chunin Exams again. You will remain a Genin for the rest of your life."

Whoa. That was a little harsh. But wait-hadn't Kabuto said that this was his fourth year? The scruffy-haired boy with the dog on his head was thinking along similar lines. "What the heck?! There are people here who've taken the Exams before!" Ibiki chuckled darkly. "I was not an examiner before now. It's just your bad luck that you have to play by my rules."

"But I'm not unreasonable. Those of you who don't feel up to it may leave now, along with your teammates, and try again next year. So raise your hand now if you can't handle it."

Several people raised their hands and stood, apologizing to their teammates. There weren't many shinobi left now.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I noted with surprise that the pink-haired kunoichi was about to raise her hand. She had seemed pretty smart. But then her eyes widened in shock. I followed her gaze and saw that _Naruto_, that overly confident loudmouth, had raised his hand. Now _that_ was a shock. Maybe he wasn't the academic type…?

Suddenly he slammed his hand down on the desk and yelled defiantly, "Don't you dare underestimate me!! I'm not going to run!! Even if I'm a Genin forever, I'll take your stupid question! I'm gonna be the Hokage someday no matter what, so I don't care! I'm not afraid, believe it!!" He sat back down.

I smiled to myself. Typical. _So he wants to be the Hokage, huh?_

"……" There was a pause as everyone digested Naruto's words. Then Ibiki smiled.

"Well then, to everyone who remains, congratulations on passing the first test!"

_Huh??_

"What do you mean?" the pink-haired kunoichi asked in confusion. "What's the 10th Question?" "There never _was_ one," replied Ibiki, sounding decidedly cheerful. Weird. "I suppose you could say that those two options were the 10th Question." "Then those other questions were completely pointless?!" Temari yelled, sounding like all her supplies of patience had been exhausted.

"No, they served their purpose. Your information-gathering skills have been properly tested. Obviously, the point of the first nine questions was to cheat. Those who did poorly, of course, failed. One thing you must always remember-on the battlefield, information can be worth more than your life." He removed the bandanna he wore on his head, revealing burn marks, scars, and deep holes. I bit my lip. The marks were clear aftereffects of torture. "Never forget. Important information can be a vital asset to your team and your village."

"What was the point of the 10th question?" Temari ventured. Ibiki smiled. "There will be missions where you must make a difficult choice, such as the decision to take the 10th question or not. Wait until next year, or handle the possibility that you may never become a Chunin. The abilities to be courageous, make hard decisions, survive any hardship…all are vital for a Chunin shinobi. Cowards who can't take the heat don't deserve to be ninja, that's how I feel. But anyway. The first test of the Chunin Selection Exams is complete. I wish you all luck"

Just as relief began to set in, a black whirlwind decimated the wall and landed at the front of the classroom. When the whirlwind stopped, we were looking at a spiky-haired woman with tough eyes. "Genin! This is no time to be celebrating!" she shouted. Raising her voice, she added, "I am the examiner for the second test, Mitarashi Anko! Now let's move it!"

"……"

"Bad timing," Ibiki told her quietly. Anko frowned, ignoring him, her eyes scanning the room critically. She turned to Ibiki and yelled in a frustrated voice, "Seventy-eight? _Seventy-eight?!_ Ibiki! You left 26 teams in the running?!" 78? Hmm. I guess it had looked like a lot less when we had started with hundreds. "You obviously made the first test _way_ too easy for them!" Anko ranted.

"There were exceptional ninja this time," Ibiki responded. Anko scowled. "Fine. I'll cut them down by half anyway."

_Half?_

And how exactly did she intend to pull _that_ one off, use us for target practice??

She turned to us with an almost vicious smile. "I'll explain the rules outside. Follow me."

………………………………………………………………

It was huge.

A forest, surrounded by chain-link fences at least five times our height. Giant, sprawling trees covered with moss, and depths too dark to see into. All things considered, it was pretty foreboding.

"Welcome to Practice Area 44, also known as the Forest of Death!" Anko announced, smirking. _'Forest of Death??'_ _How original….._Was that supposed to scare us?

"You'll soon discover _why _it's called that…" Anko said. "_'You'll soon discover why it's called that_'," a mocking voice mimicked. I whirled around in absolute disbelief. _Your stupidity knows no bounds, Naruto… _"Is that supposed to frighten us off?! You've got _nothing_! I'm not scared!!" What an idiot. Even _I_ knew better than to cross the new examiner.

_Feh. You learned that the hard way when you challenged the Kazekage, didn't you? _

I winced. _I will not have another flashback, I will NOT have another flashback…._

_**Thud.**_

A kunai whizzed past, sinking into the ground. I looked up. Naruto had a freshly bleeding slice on his cheek, and Anko was behind him, smiling a sickly sweet smile and licking the blood off his face. I fought the shivers that resulted from _that_ disturbing image. _Anko threw a knife at you, didn't she? Naruto, you baka…_

A ridiculously long tongue, reptilian and almost three feet long, protruded from the mouth of a black-haired person that I hadn't noticed. The tongue picked up the kunai and handed it to Anko. "Thank you," she said cheerfully. The person-man? Woman? I couldn't tell; the person was wearing a large hat that obscured their face-nodded and backed off.

"Now, before we begin," said Anko, releasing Naruto and sounding cheerful, "you must sign these agreement forms." She started handing out sheets of paper. "After all, there'll be deaths in this one, and you wouldn't want me to get in trouble, would you?" She smiled the most joyous, innocent smile I had ever seen, and I couldn't stop the shivers. Was there something wrong with this woman's head?

"Now I'll explain the second test. It will be a survival exercise taking place in the Forest of Death. There is a tower in the center of the forest." She held out two scrolls, one black, one white. "See these two scrolls? One says 'Heaven,' one says 'Earth.' You will battle for these scrolls. Thirteen teams will get a Heaven scroll, and thirteen will get an Earth scroll. In order to pass, your team must make it to the tower with one of both. As there are currently 26 teams, at least half of you will definitely fail. There's also a time limit-120 hours, or five days. You're on your own foodwise, and you won't get much rest. The forest is crawling with enemies. Keep on your toes. Now, here are the ways to be disqualified. One, if you don't make it to the tower with both scrolls. Two, if one of your teammates dies. No quitting in the middle of the test. And above all, do _not_ open the scrolls until you reach the tower. Now choose a gate along the fence."

"Oh, and one more thing," she concluded. "Don't die." How helpful.

………………………………………………………………………

Hmm. How was I going to get into _this_ one? Each team entered through a gate. Once inside the forest, there would be no problem; I could just follow a team to the tower and fine-tune the details. Like how to gain admittance without a scroll or a team. I racked my brain for anything at all that might help. _Well…there is that one…but it uses up so much chakra, and you can't even do it right! _

_I'm sure if I __**really**__ tried…._ I argued with myself.

_I'm sure if you __**really tried**__, you could sprout wings too._

I frowned. _I'm going to try it._

_Your funeral._

_Yours too. You __**are**__ my mind…_

_Semantics. _

_Whatever. _

I glanced around, making sure nobody was watching, No, they were all signing forms. I slipped behind a tree and made hand signs rapidly.

_Kazegakure no Jutsu! Hidden Wind Technique!_

Almost immediately I felt the change. My chakra was almost totally drained, and I was left exhausted.

And invisible.

Well, not exactly _invisible_. More like camouflaged, like a chameleon. Almost. I looked down and sighed. My hand was still visible, floating on its own in midair. Kind of creepy.

_Told you…._

_Shut up._

It was a special technique that Sensei had taught me. Or started to, before I left. To this day I'm not sure why he chose that particular jutsu; it was imperfect and required an enormous amount of chakra to do even half properly. Now I was so tired I could barely make myself move, and to top it off I didn't know how long it would last. I stuck my hand in a pocket.

There was no time for worrying. I had to choose a team to follow. One of the boys on the first team was the one with the dog. That was no good; I'd be sniffed out. Option two was Naruto, Ice-boy and the pink-haired kunoichi. But I didn't think I could put up with Naruto's incessant babble for five days. No way.

Option three was the Sand Siblings. Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara.

I held my breath and moved to a spot a few feet left of them. And waited.

A few agonizing minutes passed. Then Anko shouted, "The second test of the Chunin Exams begins _now_!!"

Everyone bolted into the Forest of Death.

I hoped that at least most of them would be okay.

To Be Continued………


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: -tries to think up creative disclaimer- -fails- I do not and will probably never own Naruto; I only own my OC. 

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to terribly-bored-ninja9588 and The Cheez; thank you for Favoriting and Alerting!**

**I'd just like to reiterate how happy your reviews make me. I really, really appreciate all of them, so thank you. Enjoy Chapter Eight. :)**

Wanderer of the Sand

Chapter VIII

……………………………………………………………………………..

Think jumping from tree branch to tree branch high in the air and making it look effortless is hard? Try doing it with one hand.

That was the thought that stood out as I followed the Sunagakure shinobi (from a distance) across the trees. My hand was still in my pocket, as it was the only part of my body that was visible. I didn't know what I was going to do when the jutsu wore off, but I would worry about that when there was a need. For now I needed to concentrate. Anticipate when they were going to stop and stop a beat before them, so that they wouldn't hear my feet hit the branches. I would rest only when they rested…which was rapidly becoming a daunting concept. The Hidden Wind technique had exhausted my supply of chakra. We'd only been moving for about two minutes, and I was already at the point where I almost wished to fall, if only to stop moving around for a minute. But I refused to acknowledge the tiredness, stubbornly moving forward.

Time went by, and the siblings showed no signs of stopping. Every few minutes I would hear a bloodcurdling scream. The first was startling, but I learned to ignore it after a while, whereas the others didn't twitch.

After about a half an hour my body started to fade back into view. Forcing aside the initial panic, I wondered what I was going to do.

Abruptly the siblings stopped. I was a half-beat behind, but they didn't notice, thankfully. "They'll do," a familiar voice stated emotionlessly.

Familiar, but not the same. Colder, harder. Like someone who had never known happiness and never expected to. It was Gaara's voice. The first time I'd heard it in five years.

I shook my head to clear it. Gaara, Temari and Kankuro were descending; I followed suit.

Standing in the clearing were three ninja of the Hidden Rain. I slipped behind a bush and watched. The tall guy at the head of the group scowled. "You're pretty confident, aren't you, sand brat," he commented. "Let's do it, old man of Hidden Rain," Gaara replied. My eyes widened. Had Gaara really gotten powerful enough to take this guy on without batting an eye? Not only that, but I didn't remember him being an instigator. _I guess a lot can change in five years,_ I thought.

"Gaara, shouldn't we get some information first?" Kankuro suggested. "If they have the same scroll we do, it's pointless to-" "It doesn't matter," Gaara cut him off.

I blinked. _What? _

"Anyone who meets my eyes," Gaara continued icily, "must die." My jaw dropped. _**What?!**_

"Fine! Then let's do it!" roared the Rain ninja, pulling several geisha-style parasols from under his coat. I almost rolled my eyes. _Is this what it's come to? Fighting with paper umbrellas??_

He threw the parasols into the air. "Die, brat!!" he screamed, making a hand sign. At once, the parasols began spinning and shooting needles out at great speed. Thousands of them, all headed for Gaara. I was nervous. _Be careful, Gaara……_ "There is no escape from this jutsu!" the Rain ninja yelled. "The needles are all infused with my chakra! They will always hit dead-on!"

The needles hit, sending dust everywhere. I bit my lip. _Is he..?_

The dust cleared.

"Is that it?" he asked.

He was okay. In fact…._What in the Five Great Shinobi Nations?_

Sand was all around Gaara, jutting out all around him, covered by needles. The sand was like armor. Gaara hadn't been touched. He hadn't even moved.

"Impossible," the Rain ninja hissed. He made another hand sign, shooting more needles. Again, the sand protected him. I remembered him having the ability to move sand as a kid, but it had progressed beyond belief.

"A rain of needles, huh?" Gaara asked, his tone ominous. "Then I guess I'll make it rain blood."

I actually felt my skin crawl. When had he become so vicious?

And where had the sand come from? Looking closer, I realized it was coming from the gourd he had on his back.

A memory hit me. Jonin, powerful assassins, bodies scattered on the ground of Sunagakure, lying in pools of blood. Pools.

I gulped. The Rain shinobi was in trouble. _Run while you can. Run!_

But he didn't. He launched himself at Gaara, fury on his face. Gaara made an unfamiliar hand sign, then his hand shot forward. "Desert Coffin," I heard him say. Sand wrapped around the Rain ninja, putting him in a cocoon a few feet off the ground. "I can't move!" he gasped.

"Shut up," was the icy reply. "I could cover your mouth and take away your air, but…" He leaned down and picked up one of the fallen parasols. "…..that's just too pitiful."

He held the parasol over his head and raised an open hand. The sand coffin floated upwards. The Rain shinobi cried out in terror.

"Imploding Sand Funeral," Gaara of the Desert hissed.

He clenched his fist.

The sand crushed the man, sending more blood than I thought a human body could hold shooting everywhere. Everywhere. Blood drops hit me in my hiding place. The scent was overwhelming. My stomach heaved, and I had to work hard not to throw up. I looked at Gaara. He hadn't gotten any blood on him; it poured down on the parasol like rain. "He didn't have time to feel the pain," he stated calmly. "I used more force than necessary to make sure of that."

"We-w-we'll give you the scroll," the Rain shinobi's shorter companion stammered. The third man nodded frantically in agreement. "P-please, let us go!"

Gaara stretched both arms, hands open, out in front of him. I felt my eyes get huge. _He wouldn't. He wouldn't kill them in cold blood. He wouldn't do it….._

_Please let that be true…._

Thick streams of sand shot for the poor men, wrapping around them. "AHHHH!!" "_Nooo_!!" Their screams were the very definition of terror.

Temari waved at them, and I could tell from her tone that she was smiling. "Bye-bye," she said sweetly.

My last view of the men were their faces; they were crying and begging for their lives, terror so complete there was no word for it etched into their faces.

_Don't do it-_

Gaara's fists clenched.

_Don't!_

And then-

Blood. So much blood.

_So much blood._

…………………………………………………_.._

The little I had eaten that day had returned to my mouth. I swallowed hard, determined not to make a sound.

Kankuro leaned over to pick up the men's scroll. "We're in luck," he said as if nothing had happened. "It's the Heaven scroll. Now let's get to the tower."

"Shut up." Gaara's voice was ice and blood combined. He turned, and if looks could kill, Kankuro would be long dead. "I haven't had enough yet." But Kankuro was braver than I gave him credit for. "Gaara," he said cautiously. "Let's stop now." Gaara scowled. "Are you scared? Coward."

Kankuro frowned. "Look Gaara, I know you might be okay, but this is too dangerous for me and Temari! We only need two scrolls! Any more is-"

"Don't you tell me what to do, you piece of trash," Gaara hissed, holding out his arm. This was insane. Was he going to kill his own brother?!

"Give it a rest!" Kankuro said angrily. "Why don't you listen to your brother for once?!" "I've never once thought of either of you as my siblings," was the cool reply. "If you cross me, I will kill you." "Gaara," Temari said in a nervous, placating tone, "let's stop now, okay? Please?" He whipped around suddenly, poised to crush someone else to death. But there was nothing there but a bush. I gulped. Was some other unlucky person hiding there? "_Gaara_!" Temari cried desperately.

His fist closed, but blood didn't fly. I squinted. He was clutching the cork to his gourd. "Fine."

The sand siblings started walking away.

Tears filled my eyes, blurring everything. _How could he?_

The Rain ninja, begging for their lives. The tears they cried, knowing it was hopeless. The terror.

_How could he be so cold? So cruel?_

I wiped viciously at the tears that fell. _This isn't the Gaara I knew._

_This person is a monster._

I loved Gaara. What did this person do with him?

To Be Continued……….

**A/N: This chapter kept getting written and rewritten over and over; how was the final result? Thanks for reading (and for your patience in waiting for Chapter Eight)! -SS**


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer:……I am sick of writing these. Naruto-san, will you please take over….

Naruto: Sure! SkywardShadow does not own me or any of my friends, BELIEVE IT!!

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Animestar001; thank you for Favoriting!**

Wanderer of the Sand

Chapter IX

………………………………………………….

Obviously I couldn't sit there for long. After what felt like hours but was probably just a minute, I stood with red eyes and resumed following the sand siblings. Since my chakra was drained and the Hidden Wind jutsu had worn off, I just had to rely on my stealth abilities to avoid getting caught. Along with a healthy dose of luck.

As we approached the tower, something occurred to me. There was no way that the Forest of Death had been so easy for everyone else, right? So if I _really_ wanted to blend in, I'd have to make it look like I'd been through the wringer.

I slipped a kunai out of my pouch and got to work cutting myself everywhere, doing the same with a shuriken after a minute. I tried to make it look as realistic and random as possible, making some deeper than others, etc. I also made a point of not cutting anything vital, as that would somewhat hinder my ability to fight later. Death will do that to a person.

Under different circumstances I would've bashed into trees or something to give myself bruises, but for this attempt at incognito, cuts would have to do.

We ended up reaching the tower in roughly 97 minutes, according to my (vague) calculations. Hung up on the wall was an almost ancient-looking scroll covered with words I couldn't read from my new hiding place. Temari and Kankuro opened their Heaven and Earth scrolls without missing a beat.

Instantly a cloud of violet smoke poured from the open scrolls. When it cleared, a person was standing there. A Jonin with a turban-like bandage thing covering the top of his head and half his face, two red slash marks on his cheek, and hard, determined eyes. His skin was tanned, and he wore a Sunagakure forehead protector.

I practically had to bite my tongue off to keep a gasp from escaping my lips. I knew this Jonin.

It was my Sensei.

He smirked briefly at the Sand shinobi before a look of the utmost seriousness came over his face. "Good work so far. Kazekage-sama will be glad to hear of your progress. But don't get complacent; there's still two stages left to go. _You have no room for error._ Understand?" They nodded. I blinked, confused. _Was that supposed to pass as a pep talk?_ Why was Sensei being so serious? _Well, it __**is**__ the Chunin Exams… _And what was that about there being _two_ more stages left?

Sensei turned so abruptly I didn't even see him move. A flash of silver shot toward me so fast that only the instinctual _**Move!**_ reaction kept my throat from being slit. As it was, I now bore a deep slice in the side of my neck. I started sweating. _Crap._

The shuriken was embedded so deeply into the tree behind me I could barely see its points. I bit my lip and waited for the inevitable.

I didn't wait long. "It's pointless to sit there," Sensei's voice called bitingly. "Show yourself." _Stay calm._ I stood, not allowing my face to betray any fear. "What gave me away?" I inquired coolly. Sensei frowned, then pointed. I looked to the side and saw a trail made up of drops of blood, my blood, leading to my hiding spot.

It was a good thing I didn't blush easily. I kept my face blank, feeling extremely sheepish. "….Ah."

I looked like an idiot.

I _was_ an idiot!

"Care to explain why you were eavesdropping?" he asked, looking me up and down. And then he asked the dreaded question, the one I was sure would finish me. "Or why you have no forehead protector? What village are you from?"

_I say again: Crap. _

_I'm finished, _I thought dismally._ There's no point in lying. _

"My name is Shara," I answered, pausing before dropping a bombshell riddled with complications. "I'm from Sand Village."

I saw confused looks on the faces of Kankuro and Temari. I couldn't even look at Gaara.

Sensei, on the other hand, merely stared. "Well," he said after a while. "That makes sense."

"It does?" I heard Kankuro mutter.

"Kankuro. Temari. Gaara. Go inside and wait. I'll be in shortly." They obeyed.

I walked over to him cautiously. "It-it's been a while, Sensei." He half-smiled. "Hn. So you _are_ Shara. The infamous-and stupid-rogue ninja of the Sand." I nodded, somewhat ashamed and wondering where this was headed. "Yes sir." "I didn't expect that you would be so careless," he continued, frowning again. "A shinobi destroys all signs of his presence." I resisted the urge to hang my head in shame. "Gomenasai, Sensei," I said. "I'm sorry."

He said nothing for a second. Then he sighed. "How did you manage to get this far?" I told him about all my Konoha exploits. He shook his head when I had finished. "You could have planned things a lot better," he reprimanded. "I know, Sensei." "Why did you even enter?" he demanded. "I..uh…I wanted to see how I measured up against people with actual training." Sensei looked at me hard. "When exactly did you decide this?"

I thought back. Actually, it had been right after Naruto Loudmouth had told me that Gaara was entering. Was _that_ the reason, subconsciously, that I had entered?! _Oh, the shame…_

"The day the Exams started, Sensei." Another silence ensued. "Well, we obviously can't just let you run around without a team, praying you don't get caught. So I'll have to put you on my team."

It took a second for those words to sink in. "What?!" I exclaimed. "I said, you're part of my team now." "But-the Exams! Ninja are only allowed to enter in three-man cells." "I'm aware of that," was the sharp reply. "We'll have to appeal to the Hokage of Konoha to get permission."

This was unbelievable. Why in the world would he go to the Hokage himself, just to get a disgraced young kunoichi on his team? "But-Sensei-_why?_" I asked.

He looked me straight in the eyes. "Because for this mission, we'll need all the shinobi we have."

I stared back nervously. "What mission?"

He didn't answer. "Forgive me if I don't exactly trust you, after what happened in Suna." I winced. "Understood, Sensei." "And do not let….personal feelings get in the way this time. Understand?" "Yes sir."

"Good. Now go inside and find your teammates. I'll find the Hokage and sort out this mess." I nodded and walked into the tower, still reeling from the shock of hearing Gaara, Temari and Kankuro referred to as my 'teammates.'

…………………………………………………………….

The room inside the tower was large and open. On the far wall was a huge sculpture of two hands making a hand sign.

The Sand shinobi were the only three there.

I looked around, completely perplexed before it hit me.

Anko said that we had _five days_ to finish the second test. The sand siblings had finished in 97 minutes, give or take.

We were going to be here for a while. And a long, awkward while it was bound to be.

I walked up to the lone ninja in the room. "H-hey." _Curse it! I __**never**__ stutter. Now of all times my voice decides to cop out on me?! _

They eyed me critically and with some surprise. "What are you doing here?" Temari asked sharply.

I took a deep breath that didn't calm me. Heck; at this point the only thing that might calm me was a knife stuck in my head. I forced the words out. "I'm your new teammate, Temari-san." She scowled. "We have no need of an extra team member. And how do you know my name?" "I'm from Sunagakure, as I said before." "Funny, because I've lived in the Sand all my life, and I don't remember meeting you." I sighed. "I….wasn't there…..long," I replied slowly, hoping they would leave it at that.

They didn't. "What do you mean, you 'weren't there long'?" Kankuro shot out. "I mean I _left_!" I yelled, instantly regretting it. Above all, I tried not to lose my temper, because it was like trumpeting your weakness to the world. Anger made you lose focus, so you never wanted to hand your enemy the tools to make you lose it.

"So you're a rogue ninja," Temari said coolly, ignoring my outburst. "…..Yes." "Why did you leave?" Underneath the cool, uncaring exterior I heard the barest hint of genuine curiosity.

….I find it amazing how flashbacks occur when you least want them to.

Absolutely amazing.

To Be Continued…………………

**A/N: Cliffhanger! I feel so evil…So, will we find out why Shara got kicked out of Suna?**

**Before I forget, special shout-out to jinxedpixie; you keep reviewing and it makes me ecstatic. Domo arigato! **


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: It could get old saying this, but I do not own Naruto. Just my OC.

**A/N: Yes!! Chapter Ten is out! –Dances- I hope you enjoy. I'll try hard to quit doing so many flashbacks from now on, arigato for putting up with me… ; **

**This chapter is dedicated to invisible-gurl; thanks for reviewing and Favoriting; also to kina1234, thanks for Alerting!**

Wanderer of the Sand

Chapter X

……………………………………………..

_It had been two years since Yashamaru's betrayal. _

_For two whole years I had watched, mentally counting up the bodies that continued to appear. Sometimes days went by with the streets smelling of nothing but dried blood, browning in the desert sun, covering patches of the ground like a gruesome shadow. How many attempts had the Kazekage now made to assassinate his own son? I got to thirty, then stopped counting. It was just too depressing. _

_Sensei was having a very difficult time keeping me focused on training. My mind wandered constantly; it was a miracle I survived my lessons with all of my limbs intact._

_To this day I'm not positive why I did what I did. Maybe after all those long hours outside, the sun had finally fried my brain. Maybe day after day of watching my friend suffer and slowly lose himself ignited a fuse to the giant stick of dynamite that was my temper. I didn't even think I __**had**__ a temper, until that day._

_I had been training nonstop for weeks and weeks. I had a feeling that when it got down to it, the leader of Sand Village was just not going to listen. And when that happened…._

_I felt almost feverish. Sick with worry and apprehension over what I was going to do. Somewhere, the sole intelligent section of my brain was telling me that I was the biggest idiot in the history of idiots. Really. What could an eight-year-old do to hurt the greatest ninja in Suna? Probably nothing. The odds of me even getting in a scratch were below zero. So far below, a name hadn't even been thought up for the number. But I had had it. I was sick of my family, sick of the Kazekage's unfairness, sick of watching Gaara be hurt. I'd miss him, and I'd miss Sensei. But after tonight, I would be out of everyone's hair. _

_I just wanted to be released from this mess. To find my own way._

_I guess my motives were pretty selfish, looking back._

……………………………………………..

_The guard Jonin let me in. What threat was an eight-year-old kid?_

_The Kazekage sat at his desk, shuffling wearily through a pile of papers. He looked up, and I started quivering with excitement. Why was I excited?! I had lost my mind at last._

"_Yes?" he asked impatiently._

"_K-Kazekage-sama," I gulped. "I-I want to ask you for a-a favor." "Favor?" He raised a skeptical brown eyebrow. "What would that be?"_

"_It's about your son," I said, forcing my voice to stop shaking. I felt sick. The Kazekage scowled. "What do you want with the Shuka-with Gaara?" I froze. __**The Shukaku?!**_

_Anger replaced my agitation. "I want-" My voice was too hard. "I want you to stop trying to kill him." His eyes narrowed. _

_Silence. It felt like hours before he broke it. "Why should you care what happens to him? What I choose to do with my son is none of your concern, child." Harsh, sharp, and uncaring. "Why should I __**care**__?!" I yelped furiously. "Why should I care?! Because Gaara-sama is my friend, and he is a person, a human being! He deserves to be treated like one!" "That brat has __**never**__ been a human being!" the Kazekage yelled back. "He never __**will**__ be, and that is the point! I am the Kazekage of Sunagakure, and my first duty always is to put my people first! The Shukaku is dangerous; it's only a matter of time before he breaks through and kills us all!" "But he's your __**son**__!" I shrieked, my throat almost ripping as it made the horrible sound._

_He fixed me with a cold, hard glare. "The demon is no son of mine. I want nothing to do with him ever again, and unless you have a suggestion for ways to destroy him, I want you out of here. Now."_

_The way he stayed so calm as he spoke of ending his child's life._

_That was what pushed me over the edge._

"_GYAHHHHHHH!!" I screeched so loudly my own ears hurt. I launched myself across the desk, unsheathing my katana. I swung it fiercely, landing a direct hit. Or so it seemed._

"_Stupid girl," a voice growled dangerously in my ear. I whipped around, realizing way too late that the only thing I'd slashed was a Shadow Clone._

_He hit me so hard I thought my jaw would come off its hinges. I smashed against the wall, eyes tearing up as pain slowly consumed my body. _

"_Ignore the pain, and counterattack." _

_That was what Sensei had said. I reached down-my katana! Where-_

_Oh, crap! The Kazekage had thrown it at me. I couldn't dodge. It all but skewered my arm, and I heard myself scream._

_I looked up into pitiless eyes. "You…stupid…girl," he said slowly. "Did you honestly think that would work?" He leaned forward and yanked the sword roughly out of my arm and the wall. Another hideous, shameful scream from me._

_I started to cry, angry with myself for doing so but unable to stop. I really didn't want to die. What had I been thinking? That he wouldn't kill a child?_

_Yeah right. Perhaps the fact had slipped my mind that this was the man who was trying to assassinate his own son._

_I bowed my head, trying and failing to stop the sobs. Waiting for the end._

_The katana was offered to me, sharp end first._

_I looked up again, wiping my eyes in confusion. "Wh-why are you…?"_

_He scowled. "Do you think I __**enjoy**__ killing children? My son is a special case, obviously. I try not to kill any more than necessary." __**There**__ was a shock._

"_Don't think for an instant that you will just waltz out of here," he warned. "I'll have one of my medic-nin heal your arm-or at least mostly. I'll give you some food and water, and then you're through here. Gone. Banished. I don't care where you go; just know that if I ever see your face in the Sand Village again, I will kill you on sight. Do you understand?"_

_I almost started crying again._

_But I knew that this was the best I could hope for. I took my katana, ignoring the blood, pushed my dark brown hair out of the way and cut a symbol deep into my forehead. The symbol for Sunagakure, so that I would never forget where my home truly was._

_I nodded at the Kazekage, ending swiftly my old life and beginning a new one._

_As Shara, a rogue ninja._

………………………………………………………

"……..I think she's asleep, Temari." "Idiot. You can't sleep with your eyes open." "Well, she's doing it. She hasn't moved in almost thirty minutes. And her eyes are all glazed over, look."

I snapped back to reality. Kankuro jumped back. "She awakens," Temari commented sarcastically. "So I suppose you're not going to answer?" Answer…? Oh. Right. Why I'd left Suna. "I-um-had some trouble with the Kazekage-sama, is all." She raised her eyebrows. "Oh, is _that_ all."

Thankfully, the uncomfortable conversation was terminated by the arrival of Sensei.

"I have spoken to the Hokage; everything's good. He seemed to think that there wouldn't be any trouble with an extra contestant. Your escapades amused him."

I reddened. I had acted like such an amateur, blowing my cover like that. "Escapades?" Kankuro inquired, glancing at me curiously. "Shara here has been following you three since the end of the first test. Now she is a temporary member of our team. Got it?"

"_Following_-?!" Kankuro began, but was cut off with an elbow to the ribs by Temari. I almost grinned. "Fine, Baki-sensei," she said coolly, shooting him a look that said clearly, _You owe us one heck of an explanation later._

I glanced sideways at Gaara to see what his reaction was.

He was staring at the ground still, expressionless. And I couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.

……………………………………………………………………

Two days. Or maybe three.

That was how long we stood around there, just me, Gaara, Temari and Kankuro, with Baki-sensei coming and going. It was the most boring few days of my life.

At long last, the rest of the teams began to enter, one at a time. Naruto's team had made it, as had Tenten's team. I saw Rock Lee look at me in surprise, nudge Tenten, and point. Tenten looked at me in disbelief. I realized I was going to be getting a lot of those looks; besides not having a forehead protector, I was the fourth member of a team. We were going to be given hell for that, as I'm sure everyone else considered it cheating.

But it didn't happen. A large group of Jonin, including Ibiki and Anko, along with the Hokage himself had entered.

The third test of the Chunin Exams was about to start.

I told myself that I was ready until I believed it.

**To Be Continued…..**

**A/N: So now you know. What do you think? -SS**


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Shara-chan's going to say it this time, as I am unable to come up with anything good.

Shara:……Fine. Skyward does not own the loudmouth-excuse me, Naruto-or any of his friends. Owns me, though….-sighs-

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to chocolvr69; thanks for Alerting! Also to field-of-tears; thanks for Alerting and reviewing! Aaand also to Masami Miyako; thanks for Favoriting! And **_**also **_**(I got a lot of feedback this time…thanks a load, you guys!) to Lela Rye; thanks for reviewing!**

**Wanderer of the Sand**

**Chapter XI**

………………………………………….

_Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe……Oh, forget it. Just panic._

And boy, was I. I had a feeling I knew what was coming next-one-on-one combat. How the heck was I going to get through this?

_No,_ I told myself firmly. _I will remain calm, I will fight as hard as I can, and I will deal with whatever comes._ And what _was_ going to come, I wondered? Now that Baki-sensei had found me out, did he plan on taking me back to Suna? Or was he going to turn me in?

Unanswerable question after unanswerable question battled for dominance in my mind as I surveyed my surroundings. It looked like seven teams had made it through the Forest of Death. My stomach lurched as I wondered how many Genin had actually died.

"Listen up, Genin!" Anko yelled. "The honorable Hokage will now explain the third test!" We all snapped to attention as the Hokage-small and wrinkled and altogether not that impressive-stepped forward.

"Before I explain the third test, there is something you should know about the true reason for the Exams," the Hokage said, fixing us all with a grave stare. I blinked. _True reason? Is __**nothing **__here one-layered? _

"Why have all the allianced shinobi nations gathered for this event? Because it is a replacement of sorts for war." _What?!_ "Long ago, all the allied nations were enemies. The Chunin Exams were created to prevent unnecessary fighting, keep fights in one place. That is the origin of the Exams."

"Why do _we_ have to do all that crap?!" I didn't even turn to look; everyone knew who would be so bold. "The Exams are to promote ninja to Chunin!" the loudmouth continued.

The Hokage regarded the idiot calmly. "The Exams do exist partly to choose Chunin. But on the other hand, every ninja who enters risks their lives to protect the prestige of their country." Ah. So _that_ was it.

But naturally, Naruto pressed on. "What do you mean, prestige?" "Watching the Exams will be leaders and influential individuals from countries that make up the clients of shinobi nations. If one nation's ninja are obviously superior, the nation's clients will increase. And if a nation's ninja are inferior, their clients will naturally go down. Powerful ninja's nations will send the message 'We are strong' to potential attackers."

"Yeah, but why do we have to risk our lives in battle?!" Not Naruto this time; the guy with the dog. "A nation is only as strong as its shinobi," was the reply. "And a shinobi's greatest strength is shown through life-risking battles. So before we begin, I would like to say one last thing: This is not merely a test. This is a life-or-death battle, with your dreams and your country's prestige on the line."

"Could we cut the philosophical talk and get to the life-or-death battles?" a cold voice stated. I tried not to shiver as I realized it was Gaara. The Hokage ignored his rudeness, though, and replied, "I will now explain the third-"

"Actually-_cough_-" We all turned as a weak, tired voice interrupted. A tall, skinny Jonin bowed before the Hokage. "As the referee, please allow me, Gekko Hayate, to explain." The Hokage nodded, and Hayate turned to us. "Hello, everyone, I'm Hayate."

_**This**__ is the referee?_ I thought in disbelief. _He looks like he'll keel over in the middle of the test!_ He was pale and sweaty, and his eyes had deep bags under them. He had long black hair.

"-_cough_-Umm, before we begin-_cough_-there's something-_cough_-I'd like you to do." _Like get a medic-nin before you collapse?_ "Umm, as a prelude to the-_cough_-preliminary of the third test, we have to decide who-_cough_-gets to participate in the main event." "Preliminary?! What's up with that?!" shouted the guy with the pineapple hair.

"Well-_cough_-it appears that the exams this year may have been too-_cough_-easy. We have-_cough_-too many people remaining. So, umm, if you-_cough_-aren't feeling up to the last test, please say so now." _Right_, I thought. _Unless someone's so injured that they are actually incapable of moving, nobody who calls themselves a shinobi will quit now._

"Well, I'm outta here," someone in front said cheerfully. I raised my eyebrows. _I stand corrected._ The quitter was none other than Kabuto, to my surprise. "You may leave," Hayate replied. "Oh, I almost forgot-these battles will-_cough_-be individual, so even if you-_cough_-quit, your team may stay in."

"Kabuto, why are you quitting?!" yelled the loudmouth-sorry, Naruto. "I'm sorry, Naruto," Kabuto replied sheepishly. "But those Sound guys in the forest beat the crap out of me. I'm just not up for a life-or-death battle." He paused for a moment, then gave Naruto a friendly wave and exited the building.

Hayate broke the following silence. "So, umm-_cough_-no one else is leaving, right?" At these words, the pink-haired kunoichi turned frantically to the ice boy (I really needed to find out his name…) and they started whispering furiously. I heard something about pain and a mark, then decided to quit listening. It's none of my business.

After a few more quiet minutes, Hayate spoke up again. "Umm..-cough-then let's begin the prelims. They will consist of-_cough_-one-on-one battles, to the death if necessary. If the referees see that there is an obvious winner, we will step in and end the fight before anyone-_cough_-gets killed. You may also withdraw, which will-_cough_-end the match." I looked around quickly. There were 21 contestants remaining, including myself. So someone was down for an extra match. I wondered who.

"This electric scoreboard-_cough_-will determine your-_cough_-opponent," he continued, gesturing to a giant scoreboard on the wall. "And although it's-cough-sudden….Here are the combatants for the-_cough_-first preliminary match." _Huh? Already?_ Well, no one was wasting any time.

Now we'd _really_ get to see what everyone was made of.

…………………………………………………………….

Time had passed. Everyone had been moved up to balconies above the arena, and then the matches began. The rundown in my head was:

Round one-Ice boy (um, Uchiha Sasuke-now I knew why he looked familiar; he had an infamous rogue ninja for a brother!) vs. another Leaf ninja, Yoroi. Ice-I mean, _Sasuke_ was the winner. Round two-Zaku, the wild-haired Sound ninja, vs. the sunglasses-wearer, Shino, who turned out to fight with bugs. Shino won. Round three-another Leaf nin, Misumi, vs. Kankuro. It was a good match, and I discovered that Kankuro was a puppet-master. He fought with puppets and won, interestingly. So far, no one had been killed.

Round four. I looked up at the scoreboard.

_Shara vs. Yamanaka Ino._

_Oh lord. Oh lord oh lord oh-__**CALM DOWN!!**_ I mentally shrieked. _Remember what Baki-sensei always said-analyze your opponent. Don't make the first move. Never let emotions into a fight. Relax._

I breathed deeply. Temari smirked. "Think you can handle it?" I nodded seriously. "No problem, Temari-san." _I hope._

I jumped down from the balcony to the arena and looked at my opponent. It was the blond kunoichi who had been clinging to Sasuke earlier. She was stick-thin and had long hair. _What the-? Is this a joke? Can such a wimpy-looking girl actually be a shinobi? _

Well...actually, yes. Behind the nonthreatening exterior, I could see determination in her eyes. I felt like she could shoot flames at me at any moment.

We stood at opposite sides of the arena. "Good luck," I told her calmly, then regretted it. What kind of shinobi told their opponent 'Good luck' before a life-or-death battle?! A stupid one, that's what. And I was fitting into the 'Stupid Shinobi' category more and more. How aggravating.

Ino smirked. "Sure." "Round four is Shara versus Yamanaka Ino. Any objections?" Hayate asked. "None," I said coolly. "Likewise," Ino replied. "Then Round four-begin!"

I put a hand to the hilt of my katana, watching and waiting. Ino zoomed forward, instantly seizing the initiative and aiming a punch at my face. _Isn't __**she**__ direct._ I fell backward to the floor, swiping my leg underneath Ino and tripping her. She went flying at first, but landed on her feet.

"I'd be a little less zealous if I were you," I commented mildly. "Oh _would_ you," she snapped back. She slid to the side and shot forward for another direct attack. This time I just grabbed her fist.

Her other hand zipped down to her pouch to grab a kunai knife. I reached down as quickly as I could with my right hand to unsheathe my katana and bring it up. It blocked the weapon only an inch from my face. I paused, then shot my leg out and twisted to trip her up again.

But she wasn't falling for that again. She sensed what I was doing and jumped, keeping her hands in position, and kicked me in the face full force. We were pushed away from each other.

I ignored the throbbing soon-to-be-a-huge-bruise spreading over half my face. I deserved it; only an idiot used the same move twice in one fight. After a second of hesitation, I snatched several shuriken from my pouch and fired them at Ino. She jumped to avoid being hit, and I took the opportunity to shoot half my kunai supply at her airborne self. I saw surprise on her face, and she attempted to dodge them in midair. She was deeply scratched by three of them, but nothing vital had been hit.

_Good,_ I thought wearily. I really didn't want to kill anyone. But I would never give up, either. So if it came down to one option or the other, which would I choose?

Ino landed and came straight at me, zigging and zagging back and forth to make her movements more unpredictable. I waited until I could see the sweat on her face, then sidestepped the kunoichi and grabbed her by her long hair.

_I'll have to scare her into quitting,_ I thought, raising my katana over her.

But I forgot one very important thing. Hair came off.

Ino reached up with a kunai and cut her ponytail right off. Then she turned and aimed a punch at my gut, which I barely avoided. We both backed off to catch our breath and strategize.

I looked up to see Ino making a hand sign. "You think you're so clever?" she yelled, voice thick with the confidence of one assured of their victory. _That means trouble,_ I thought with a twinge of worry. "I'll _force_ you to give up!" "That will never happen, so don't waste your time," I responded, wondering what she planned to do.

"Oh really? Just watch," was the reply. Her face hardened in concentration.

"_Shintenshin no Jutsu!_ Mind Control Technique!" she shouted. I realized that her hand sign was meant to aim the jutsu at me. _What is she thinking? She won't hit,_ I thought, racing sideways. I paused. Ino had fallen to her knees, hands flat on the floor. It was then that I realized something that should have been obvious.

Too late.

I felt my control over my body slipping away. My soul was being forced into darkness. _She's going to take over my body and make me give up,_ I realized in panic. _There was a trail of hair on the floor from when she cut it off! She sent her chakra and the jutsu through the hair, because I was standing on it. And like_ _an idiot, I fell for it._

I could vaguely see Ino's soul grinning at me from inside my own body. She was raising my hand. "I, Shara of Sand Village-" _Oh no you don't!_ I forced my soul forward, exhausting as it was. _I have not come this far to lose here. I will uphold the honor of my-what used to be my village. And I will make my team proud._ "Yamanaka!" I shouted. She turned in shock. "No _way_!" she yelled. "Get-the-_hell_-out-of-my-body!!" I shrieked, launching forward and pinning the Ino-soul, holding my sword to her throat.

"Out," I hissed in a cold voice. "_Now_."

Fear glistened in her eyes. "K-kai, release!" she stammered. And my body was my own once more.

Ino stood. "This ends it," she snarled. I nodded. "Fine with me."

I was tired now, so I decided to try a fake-out. I made a move forward, to make her think I was charging. So she charged as well.

I halted midstride. I saw the kunoichi realize her mistake, but it was too late. Momentum was pushing her forward. "Still a little overzealous," I observed calmly.

I stepped to the side, lifted my katana, and brought the hilt down on the back of her head. Hard. Ino fell.

"Good fight," I murmured. Hayate hurried forward to check, and then announced, "Round four, over! Winner-Shara of Sand Village!"

I fought back a tired grin of triumph, and dragged myself back to the balcony.

**To Be Continued………………**

**A/N: Long..chapter..fingers…exhausted!! Anyway, am I the only one who thinks that Gekko Hayate looks somewhat like L from Death Note?**

**Oh, and before I forget, Chapter 12 is going to be a little late. I apologize!! -SS**


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: Since it's so fun having other people do my disclaimers…Oh, Shikamaaaru….

Shikamaru:……No. Too troublesome.

Me: Please??

Shikamaru:….Whatever. –grumbles- Troublesome author. Okay, Skyward doesn't own any of us besides the OC. –grumbles- What a drag….

**A/N: Okay, gomenasai for this chapter being so late! I need to write more…Anyway, I got some comments wondering how the whole Ino/Sakura thing would work now that Shara's been added to the mix. Trust me, it was hard to work that out without making major changes to the storyline! But anyway, as you know, somebody was down for an extra match because of an odd number of contestants. Just wanted to repeat that, in case it confuses anyone. **

**Without further ado, here is Chapter 12! Hope you enjoy!**

**Wanderer of the Sand**

**Chapter XII**

…………………………………..

I couldn't help but wonder what the reaction of my teammates would be, after seeing my battle. I got the impression that they thought I was relatively useless. What a happy thought.

Kankuro raised his eyebrows as I returned. "…Good work," he said almost grudgingly. Temari didn't roll her eyes or say something sarcastic, which I considered progress.

And to my disappointment, Gaara continued to ignore me.

All right, so I had a ways to go in terms of making myself part of the team. Maybe they would never fully accept me, but at the very least I planned to make them _respect_ me. At least a little.

An electrical fuzz sound signaled the beginning of another match. My eyes widened substantially when I saw the names. Temari vs. Tenten.

Oh, the mental agony. The confliction. On the one hand, of course I wanted Temari to win. She was on my team, after all. But then I remembered how…oddly accepting Tenten had been. She was friendly even though she had no reason to be, and a stupid emotional part of my mind whispered that I didn't want to see her hurt or killed.

The two kunoichi stepped onto the arena, Temari's unscathed self contrasting with the beating Tenten had obviously received in the Forest of Death. "Match five-begin!" Hayate announced. I resisted the urge to clutch the metal bar in front of me. My nervousness must have shown, though, because Kankuro glanced at me and chuckled. "Don't look so worried. Temari won't lose to someone at that girl's level."

_That's exactly what I'm afraid of._

My fears were justified. After less than five minutes, even though Tenten had released an impressive and large-scale attack involving a variety of weapons, Temari had knocked her out and now had the Leaf kunoichi's limp form draped unceremoniously over her giant fan.

"Is that all?" I heard my teammate say, smirking almost cruelly. "How boring." With a shudder I remembered her sweet wave to the dying Rain ninja. Would she really be so cold as to kill her unconscious opponent? Were both Gaara's siblings as cold as he was?

I was irritated with myself for thinking about Gaara like that. He had been my friend, all those years ago, and I hoped that I could bring the sweet little kid I knew back out.

_Because you '__**love'**__ him?_ the annoying inner voice said snidely.

I scowled, feeling the heat creeping to my face. _Shut up._

_You know it's true, though._

I ignored the voice and returned my attention to the arena. "Match five, over! Winner-Temari!" "Yeah, like that's a surprise," Kankuro muttered cockily. I could see Temari's smirk widen, and my insides went cold.

And rightly so. The Sand kunoichi drew back the arm holding the fan, and I knew that she was about to throw Tenten. I was furious. _That's shameful for a shinobi!_ I pounced from the balcony, ran like the wind, and dove in front of Tenten's body as she went flying. I barely caught her.

If looks could kill…Well, realistically, I would be long dead. But say looks could only kill in this one moment. I would be six feet underground by now, if anyone bothered to bury me. Belatedly, I made a mental note _never_ to make Temari angry. The scowl she gave me was terrifying. "Why did you do that?" I demanded. "You already won. Do you enjoy humiliating unconscious opponents?"

I thought I saw a tiny flicker of shame dart across her face, but it vanished instantly. "What do you know?" she snapped. "How _dare_ you interfere with my fight?" "What I interfered with wasn't a fight," I replied coldly. "It was a disgrace."

Tense silence, during which I wondered if she would leap forward and rip out my throat. It didn't seem that unlikely. I had been way out of line. _I never learn…_

Hayate cleared his throat. "Enough. This changes nothing. Temari, return to your team. Shara, hand Tenten over to the medic-nin, then go back to your team." I nodded, then headed for the medical ninja who always waited nearby. As I placed Tenten on a stretcher, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see Eyebrow Boy-no, that wasn't right-Rock Lee. Behind him were Neji and Guy. "Thank you, Shara-san," Lee said solemnly. I sighed. "There's nothing to thank me for. I apologize for my teammate's actions." He nodded.

I returned once more to the balcony, dreading the other's reactions to my intervention.

Temari was seething quietly at the far end of the balcony, Kankuro seemed caught between awe, disbelief, and amusement, and-well, three guesses what Gaara's reaction was.

Brilliant. So now my team consisted of me, aka the idiot; a powerful kunoichi who probably had me on her hitlist; a guy who seemed to find me nothing more than an amusement; and a guy who…. (fine, I liked, but I would never admit it) didn't care one way or another.

………………………………………………

More time went by. The pineapple-haired guy, aka Nara Shikamaru, faced off with Kin Tsuchi, the Sound kunoichi. Using the Shadow Possession Technique, Shikamaru won. The loudmouth Naruto went up against Inuzuka Kiba, the guy with the dog. After an exciting and.._interesting_ match, Naruto squeaked by.

Guess who was up for an extra match.

I suppose I deserved it.

Maybe karma was back to kick me in the face? My opponent was none other than the pink-haired kunoichi I had cheated off of during the first test. Haruno Sakura. Now the question was, would I be able to pull it off?

We stood in the arena. "Match eight-begin!" _Here we go again._

Immediately I could tell that Sakura was different from Ino. She didn't attack right away; she took her time instead, analyzing, or maybe waiting for me to make the first move.

After almost two full minutes of nothing resembling fighting, she finally made her move. First she used the Shadow Clone Technique, spreading at least twenty copies of herself around the arena. I froze. _Don't move._ _Just wait…and listen._ Another one of Baki-sensei's teachings. I listened and waited for the giveaway, the lightning-fast _tiptap_ of movement that would signal her advance.

There it was. So I ignored it, and aimed instead for the Sakura opposite the one that was moving. See, using a technique like that, most Genin shinobi attacked with one clone, then attacked from the farthest possible clone to ensure that their opponent was caught completely out of position. An old and simple trick, and I hoped the girl everyone called an intellectual wouldn't have used something so obvious.

She hadn't. As soon as my katana passed through the clone, another one jumped from the woodwork. And another. Confusing me, blinding me. Caught in a swirling mess of pink hair and red fighting dresses, I struggled to figure out which one was real. Frustrated with my nonexistent progress on that point, I flung a group of shuriken out in different directions. Most of them passed through most of the Sakuras, but out of the corner of my eye I noticed one of them edge barely out of the way to avoid the throwing star. _Got you._

Forcing myself to focus on that one Sakura, I moved sideways as quickly as I could and cut at her with my katana. She wiped away the following look of surprise, managing to swerve in midair to avoid getting sliced.

But I went for another attack. Knowing the clones were pretty useless now, she let them vanish and dodged the sword at such close range that she lost a bit of her hair. Now underneath the blade, she leaned back on her arms and kicked. Powerfully. And trust me when I say that I felt every bit of that power when her legs made contact. I backed off, trying to ignore what now felt like fire raging through the middle of my body.

_She's pretty good,_ I thought. But I wanted to end this fast. So, half-thinking that it was a stupid choice, I made the hand signs necessary to once again use the Hidden Wind Technique.

Once more I felt the unpleasant sensation of nearly all my chakra being sucked away. But at the same time I was fading, and the best part was that no part of my body appeared to be visible.

Fantastic. Now I just had to be as quiet as possible.

An interesting thought crossed my mind. _If I were to create Shadow Clones in this state, would they be camouflaged as well? Should I risk wasting my chakra to try it?_

Might as well. If this technique failed, I would be just about finished anyway. So I should probably go all-out.

More hand signs, more chakra gone, and more Sharas.

Visible Sharas, unfortunately. My experiment had not paid off.

But wait, this could still work in my favor.

I made one of the Shara clones move to attack Sakura, but since she had seen me vanish, she knew that they were clones, and let it pass through her. She was smart-staying very still, ears no doubt perked up, waiting for that one tiny little move that would determine the match.

So I decided to confuse her. I made all the clones begin moving around erratically, and Sakura's face screwed up with the effort of focusing. I crept forward softly, moving behind her.

"Good fight," I said quietly, just as I had with Ino. She whipped around so fast she blurred, and punched hard. It hit my nose dead-on, and blood began flowing. _Well, __**that**__ hurt._

I swept my leg under her feet, sending her crashing to the hard floor. She was about to get back up when I returned the favor, punching her face so hard it would be a miracle if she stayed conscious.

I felt kind of like a brute, but I shook the feeling off. I had done what I had to do, like a real shinobi.

The clones faded away, along with the Hidden Wind. Only the thought of how shameful it would be to faint in front of so many people propelled me forward. I barely heard Hayate announce that I had won.

I climbed back up to rejoin my team. I didn't note their reactions; I was just too freaking tired.

I felt something wet trickling down my skin and glanced down. Sakura's blood was dripping down my hand.

I blacked out.

_Me? A 'real shinobi'? Yeah. Right….._

**To Be Continued…..**

**A/N: Jeez, I apologize a hundred times if this fight scene seemed a little lackluster. I was totally lacking inspiration when I wrote it….Gomen, gomen!! ;; Reviews are much appreciated, but don't feel like you have to. Thanks for reading. –SS**


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: Who shall it be this time? Gaara-sama, could you please-

Gaara: No.

Me: Oh, come on.

Gaara: No. Why are you 'pairing' me with someone nonexistent?!

Me: Because it's a fanfiction!...Fine. I do not own Naruto or any of the characters besides my OC. (I'll make Gaara-sama do it next time, tho'…..)

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to LawlietsDarkAngel; thanks for Alerting!**

**Wanderer of the Sand**

**Chapter XIII**

…………………………………………

"….Hey. You awake?"

My eyes opened quickly. What had happened?

…Oh, yeah. Just as well that I forget. _I am such a disgrace…_

"Good. You're up. Could you do me a favor?"

I turned around. I was in the medical room. They must've thought I passed out from wounds, not…Well, weakness. I sighed and touched my nose, wondering if it was broken.

"The medic-nin fixed that. Said it was seriously broken. Haruno Sakura..who knew?"

Yeah. I never would've guessed that she packed such a punch. I turned the other way and saw her lying on a cot of her own. Had I really hit her that hard, or was she just sleeping….?

"Hey. Are you listening to me?"

I ignored whoever it was, looking down a long line of cots. Tenten, Ino, Kin, Zaku….

"You! Will you _listen _for a second?!"

I whipped around, ignoring the pain I felt from moving so quickly. "It's kind of hard not to listen when someone keeps _pestering _you, hn?" I replied icily. He scowled. I blinked. It was Dog Boy-erm, Inuzuka Kiba. His puppy was lying beside him.

"Listen, they said your wounds were mostly superficial. D'you think you're well enough to move?" I raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Then could you do me a favor?"

…Odd. "What do you want?" I asked. "You know Hyuga Hinata? The shy blue-haired girl with the white eyes?" "Vaguely," I replied, wondering why the name "Hyuga" struck a chord. "Well, she's fighting her cousin right now, and-look, everyone calls him a genius, but he's a complete jerk, and he's merciless. Especially with Hinata. I _told_ her to forfeit the match, but now of all times she decides to fight! So…if you could go back out there, and tell her that Kiba…" He bit his lip. "…is _begging_ her not to fight! She'll get killed!"

I sighed again. "How exactly do you suppose I would do that if she's in the middle of a fight?" I inquired. He gave me a look that clearly said _What, isn't it obvious, blockhead?_ "_Yell,_ of course."

"….Fine."

"Thanks. What's your name again?" "Shara. Goodbye."

…………………………………………….

As it turned out, I didn't have time to tell the girl anything. I dragged myself off the cot and over to the arena room, but I only had time to see Hinata collapse, coughing up awful amounts of blood, even though several Jonin were restraining her opponent-her opponent! Neji!

Naruto bent over Hinata, yelling her name, but her eyes closed. I hoped she wasn't dead. I hurried forward; maybe I could assist her to the medical room, if nothing else. I felt bad for being unable to do what Kiba had asked.

But Baki-sensei had seen me, and he called for me from the balcony. Resigned, I obeyed, bracing myself for what was sure to be a biting lecture. _Things just get better and better…_

"_Tell _me that you did not black out from the girl's blood," were his first pained words. Kankuro snickered. I thanked Kami once again that I wasn't susceptible to blushing. "I can't tell you that, Sensei, because I did," I said. He closed his eyes. I wondered if he was praying for patience. Or for me to be struck down by lightning.

Temari, because some higher being hates my guts, was furious. _Oh, joy._ "Baki! This is ridiculous. This-this _infant_ is a complete weakling! She can't fight, she faints at the sight of blood, she doesn't have a competitive bone in her body-she's a rogue ninja, for Kami's sake! Obviously she has that label for a reason, so why is she even here?! Why the hell did you put her on this team, Baki?!"

I blinked. _So I can't fight, can I? You must have missed Ino and Sakura. I bet __**they**__ would say differently…_ Kankuro was obviously struggling not to laugh. I didn't even want to look at Gaara, but my eyes betrayed me.

He looked the slightest bit perplexed at his sister's outburst; I was relieved to see that he was not _entirely_ devoid of emotion.

And then he looked at me.

Light turquoise eyes met my own pale green ones.

_Scratch what I said about being immune to blushing….._

I looked back to Baki-sensei, praying that the heat in my face would go down. It did, and my sensei opened his eyes. "I think Temari is mostly right," he said coldly. "You are not cut out to be a shinobi, Shara." My heart plummeted. _This is it._ It was hard to figure which was worse-hearing him say it, or knowing that he was 100 percent right.

"I'll just have to train you some more later."

…_Um….What?!_ Later? What did he mean, "_Later_?" When _was_ "Later?" Did that mean I was going back to Suna? No, it couldn't be…Then what…?

At the very least, it probably meant I wasn't going to be kicked off Team Baki. Not yet, anyway. I almost smiled, but held it in. "Understood, Sensei."

"Is it?" He turned his gaze back to the arena. Temari gave me a scathing look, the kind that could cut metal. When she tried, she was way scarier than Gaara. _Fantastic. If there was any doubt before, it's long gone. She __**hates **__me._

Gaara's eyes twitched sideways. Without missing a beat, he closed them almost serenely and made a hand sign. Sand swirled around him, covered him, and teleported him down to the arena. "Don't keep me waiting," he said in an ice-cold voice that carried throughout the room.

Who was his unlucky opponent? I looked up at the scoreboard and instantly got a huge dose of that sinking, sinking feeling.

Gaara vs. Rock Lee.

_Oh, no._

Lee seemed like a nice guy, but would he be able to hold his own against Gaara? Probably not. _But maybe…maybe he'll surprise everyone. You never know, right?_

Lee jumped straight from his balcony into the arena. He was grinning. Gaara just stood with his arms folded. I grew even more worried.

"Being able to fight you this soon makes me very happy," Lee stated. I clenched my hands into worried fists. _You idiot, you don't know what you're getting into…!_

"Match ten," Hayate announced, "begin!"

**To Be Continued……………..**

**A/N: Mosi mosi, it's me again. Just to give you a heads-up, updates are going to be a little slow. Things've been really busy…Anyway, just letting you know. Hope you enjoyed Chapter thirteen. :) –SS**


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: Gaara-sama, come on, be a sport.

Gaara: Forget it. 

Me: You forget that I am the author here. Do you want me to make you lose this fight?

Gaara:……You suck. Whatever, Skyward does not own any of us (thank Kami) besides Shara.

Me: Thank you.

**Wanderer of the Sand**

**Chapter XIV**

"I don't know what kind of attacks Bowl-Head does, but there's no way he can beat Gaara," Kankuro said smugly. He was really starting to get on my nerves.

Even though, in this case, I feared he was probably right.

Suddenly Lee's hand shot out, as if he had grabbed something out of midair. "No need to be so hasty," he said.

I blinked. He was clutching the cork to Gaara's gourd. _When did..?_ A few thin streams of sand drifted lazily from the gourd, as if anticipating the coming fight.

Lee ran forward with impressive speed, aiming a high kick at Gaara. Sand shot out of the gourd and blocked the attack. The amount of sand grew and lashed out at Lee, but he leapt back. Without ever pausing in his movement, the Leaf ninja shot forward again, despite the liberal amounts of sand slithering in the air around his opponent.

He punched and kicked at the sand in quick succession, but it did nothing. Gaara hadn't even looked at him since the fighting began; he kept his gaze fixed on the wall. Lee finally took a moment to breathe, obviously trying to come up with a strategy.

"It's useless," Kankuro said under his breath. "No one's ever been able to even scratch Gaara." I held my tongue. Nearby, I noticed that Sakura had recovered enough to get up on the balcony and watch. "Why is Lee only using Taijutsu, Gai-sensei?" I heard her ask. _She has a point,_ I realized. Lee _was _only using Taijutsu-martial arts.

In a way, maybe Lee had the best chance of anyone here of defeating Gaara (not that I wanted Gaara to lose, obviously, but hypothetically). Hadn't Kabuto mentioned that Lee was brilliant at Taijutsu? If the Leaf ninja used it as well as Genjutsu and Ninjutsu, he might have a good chance. I figured this because, since sand always protected him from all physical attacks, Gaara might not be as good at Taijutsu. So why was Lee using only martial arts?

I almost fell off the balcony when Gai answered. "It's not that he isn't using Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. It's that he _can't_ use them. He has pretty much no aptitude for them. He's only made it this far because of pure hard work-since there's only one type of jutsu he can use, it's the only type he needs to practice. He can devote all of his training to Taijutsu alone. There are other shinobi with similar issues."

Huh. That was an interesting twist.

But if that was true, then Gaara was the worst possible opponent for Lee. Lee could only use physical attacks, and Gaara had a complete defense against physical attacks.

I almost groaned. Unless Lee forfeited-and somehow I doubted that he would-there was reason to believe that this fight would become a bloodbath.

Thick snakes of sand slithered forward; every foot or so a sand claw would shoot up. Lee kept dodging and retreating, jumping back further and further until he finally jumped on top of the hand sign sculpture. "Lee, it's all right! Take them off!" Gai called. "I'll allow it!"

Lee beamed and pulled off his vibrant orange legwarmers.

They concealed weights.

_Old-fashioned_, I thought, _but they work. How much will his speed increase without them?_

"Go, Lee! Win with the power of youth!" bellowed Gai. I could feel my eye twitching in disbelief as Lee yelled "Yes, Sensei!"

And he vanished.

For a second I don't think anyone could see him. Then he suddenly reappeared, aiming a punch at Gaara's face. The sand blocked it, but just barely. Surprise flickered on the Sand shinobi's face. Had anyone ever gotten that close to injuring him?

_Bam!_

_Bam!_

_Bam!_

All three of Lee's other limbs lashed out at him almost instantly. Again, the attacks were blocked by less than an inch. Gaara kept whirling around, looking back and forth swiftly, shocked, wondering what was going on. But his eyes and-for once-his sand couldn't keep up.

Lee leapt into the air and kicked down hard.

It connected.

The loud sound of Lee's foot hitting Gaara's head seemed to echo deafeningly throughout the room. My jaw dropped. A deep cut surrounded by a nasty bruise marred Gaara's cheek. Both ninja backed off; Lee grinning, and Gaara's surprise replaced with an expression I couldn't quite describe.

"Go, Lee, go!!" encouraged Gai. "Yes sir!" was the reply.

Again Lee vanished, reappearing behind Gaara with amazing speed and punching him so hard he went flying across the arena. My eyes widened, brows knitting together with worry. For all my nervousness over thinking Lee couldn't hold his own, when he landed a hit I panicked for his opponent. I was ridiculous!

Out of the corner of my eye I glimpsed a very, very worried Kankuro. "This is bad," he muttered.

I didn't even have time to ask what he meant before I understood.

Sand, the thinnest layer of it, was crumbling away from the wild-eyed, cackling face and body of Gaara.

_Oh, God!_ I realized. _That_ _sand was his armor the whole time! He's completely unscathed!_

Lee looked nervous now, and with good reason.

Throughout the Chunin Exams, even at his most ice-cold and bloodthirsty, even after killing those Rain ninja, Gaara's face had remained, for the most part, expressionless. Ice and blood gathered behind his eyes, warning you what would happen if you pushed him, but the light turquoise of his eyes provided a mental barrier, holding back the emotion and expression. The obvious danger of getting too close.

Well, the barriers had broken. Come crashing down faster than a thunderstorm. All emotion had broken loose in one insane, laughing expression, and I was sure that hell would soon follow. This Gaara was different.

He was holding nothing back.

"Terrifying" didn't begin to cover it.

_Look out, Lee…._

**To Be Continued…..**

**A/N: Just a random little thing I noticed….When Gekko Hayate talks, he coughs all over the place, but he never coughs when announcing something, like the outcome of a match. Yeah, I notice really stupid things…Anyway, I hope you liked chapter fourteen. The all-battle chapters will end soon, and then they'll resume with the **_**real**_** Third Test. Sorry if the fight scenes bore you…But I didn't write Naruto! -.-; Gomen, gomen! –SS**


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: Ino's doing my disclaimer this time!

Ino: And why would I do that?

Me: Because if you don't, I will pair you with Choji. :)

Ino: -shivers- Okay. SkywardShadow doesn't own any of us besides that Shara girl. Happy?

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Punk2Cute; thanks for Alerting and Favoriting! Also to Hawaiiangurl622; thanks for Favoriting!**

**Wanderer of the Sand**

**Chapter XV**

…………………………….

He looked deranged.

His eyes were wider than I thought was physically possible, and he wore an insane, bloodthirsty, wide grin. Before now, I would've done almost anything to see Gaara smile again.

I guess "Be careful what you wish for" has some meaning after all.

Sand swarmed around him, slowly covering him with a paper-thin armor again, but it was now imperfect. Cracks were everywhere. The insane expression vanished, replacing itself with Gaara's usual cold look. "Hurry up and come," he hissed.

"As you wish!"Rock Lee again used his astonishing speed, zooming forward and kicking up. Gaara recoiled, wincing. "It's not over!!" Lee declared, kicking over and over. Gaara flew upwards, higher and higher, lurching closer to the ceiling with every hit. I leaned forward and gripped the rail tightly. "_Gaara_!"

The cry had wrenched itself from my lips before I could stop it. Mostly everyone was too riveted by the fight to notice, but the rest of my team stared at me. Sensei sighed. I hung my head in shame, but quickly looked up again.

The bandages around Lee's arms had been undone, and he was now using them to tie himself and Gaara together, upside down as Gaara was falling. "Take this!" Lee declared. "_Initial Lotus_!"

They spiraled downward incredibly fast. Just before impact, Lee jumped away, leaving Gaara to slam full-force into the hard arena floor, head-first. I bit my tongue to keep from shouting again.

The collision demolished a section of the arena. Stone jutted up everywhere. Gai cheered. "Witness the power of youth!!" _..I give up. He's completely nuts._

Lee, breathing hard but grinning in triumph, stepped forward to examine his opponent. Gaara was unconscious.

No. No, he wasn't. The sand armor around his face cracked, and fell away to reveal…

Nothing.

That's right. Nothing. It was only an empty shell, made of sand. _When in Kami's name did he make the switch? _I started to wonder, but then I remembered. _It must have been after I yelled..I hung my head for just a second, but that was when he did it!_

"Heh heh…" Like a demon in a horror movie, a sand-blanketed Gaara appeared behind Lee. He made a hand sign, mad grin returning to his face, and a giant wave of sand launched itself at Lee. It shoved him back against the wall, but didn't seem to injure him. Then it attacked again, this time leaving a bruised Lee and a huge hole in the wall behind.

"Why didn't he dodge?!" Sakura exclaimed. Gai was sweating. "That lotus technique is a double-edged sword. It's normally a forbidden move…All that high-speed Taijutsu puts so much stress on your body…" "So right now," observed a silver-haired Jonin, "he's in so much pain he can barely move, correct?"

Sand continued to beat Lee back. _At this rate, he's finished,_ I thought. _He's still smiling, though..Interesting guy…._

Lee had finally managed to dodge the latest blast of sand. He and Gaara stood at opposite ends of the arena. "This will end it," the Leaf ninja said.

His expression changed to pure concentration. His skin tone darkened, veins were popping out of his head, and his eyes were glazed over. "Third Gate-Release!!" he yelled.

Third Gate..?

No _way._ There was absolutely _no way_.

The Eight Inner Gates were 'gates' inside of your body that regulated how much chakra you could put into a move. Certain techniques, like the Lotus techniques, forcibly opened the gates using chakra, allowing you to use tens of times more power than usual. But opening Gates damaged your body, sometimes beyond repair. Opening all eight would definitely kill you. Even the most advanced Jonin had trouble with the Gates. It was amazing that Lee could open the third one.

But he still wasn't finished. "And the Fourth Gate! Release!" he shrieked, bellowing with effort. Raw power swirled around his body. I didn't even want to think what the physical consequences would be for this.

He ran forward so fast I didn't even see him move, I just saw a path of carnage in his wake. A green jumpsuit-clad leg shot up from the ground, kicking Gaara in the face. He went flying up again. The whole exchange was so fast, the sand wasn't even close to keeping up. Lee reappeared and punched Gaara, who went rocketing toward the ground at the tremendous force of the impact. But Lee's swiftness helped him get _behind _the falling Gaara, and in midair he kicked the Sand ninja again.

It kept going. Lee vanished and returned, kicking Gaara around like a ball, back and forth, over and over again. My eyes felt permanently crossed.

The sand armor was beginning to flake off. Noticing a weakness, Lee shocked us all by roaring, "Fifth Gate-Release!!"

I heard his muscles snapping from the stress. "This is the end!" he bellowed, launching and punching Gaara in the gut. As the redhead fell, Lee summoned all his strength and, yelling "Extreme Lotus!!", punched him again. With everything he had.

As Gaara shot for land, his gourd turned into his last reserve of sand.

The dust cleared. Gaara was on his back, saved-more or less-by the sand. He thrust his arm out, and sand shot at Lee, covering his left arm and leg. I froze. Oh, no.

Gaara gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. "Desert Coffin."

The sand crushed Lee's arm and leg. He screamed and fell to the ground.

All the sand rushed at its exhausted, defenseless prey.

But it was thrown off. I blinked.

Gai was standing before Lee. He had used his own chakra to throw off the attack.

Gaara's eyes widened briefly, and he winced and clutched his head. "Why did you save him?" he asked in a pained voice. "…Because he is my loveable, precious student," was the answer.

_Which is something that Gaara doesn't understand,_ I thought sadly. _Love and kindness have only seemed to hurt him in the past._

Slowly, Gaara stood and turned away, the sand reassembling itself into a gourd and its contents.

"Winner-Gaara!" announced Hayate.

I couldn't have been more relieved. It was finally over.

**To Be Continued…..**

**A/N: Phew! I always love reading that fight…What did you think? –SS**


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I think the Naruto characters are avoiding me..Can't imagine why…Oh, well. I do not own Naruto, only my OC.

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to HopeInHell; thanks for Alerting! (Oh, and I really like your pen name. Very cool.)**

**Wanderer of the Sand**

**Chapter XVI**

…………………………**.**

Just as Gaara was leaving the arena, Lee stood, surprising everyone.

He assumed a fighting position, even though he could barely stay upright, but Gai diffused him, hugging him tightly and laying him back down.

Medic-nin and Jonin swarmed the scene, immediately getting to work fixing up the arena and Lee. Temari was smirking. "Bowlcut never had a chance," she said. I scowled at her. "You weren't so confident a minute ago. Everyone here was nervous. It was a great fight." "Hmph. At least I can keep my mouth shut when others are battling," she retorted.

I chose to ignore that comment and back off.

Lee was carried into the medical room via stretcher; Gaara teleported himself back to the balcony. "Welcome back, Gaara," Temari said with a grin.

"Yeah," I said quietly. "Welcome back. That was…a good fight."

I could feel them looking at me, but I kept my gaze fixed on the arena below.

"And now for the final preliminary match, Dosu vs. Akamichi Choji!" Hayate said. The creepy, bandaged Sound guy and a chubby Leaf ninja with spirals on his cheeks stepped forward. "Match Eleven, begin!"

………………………….

The final match ended quickly, with Dosu emerging the victor.

"Well then…The preliminary round of the Third Test of the Chunin Exams is complete!" announced Hayate. I almost collapsed. I'd totally forgotten that this was only the preliminary…

The nine remaining contestants gathered before the Hokage. Wait-_nine_? I double-checked. Ice-I mean _Sasuke_ wasn't there. I raised an eyebrow. He hadn't been hurt _that_ badly in his match...Where was he?

The remaining Genin were myself, Neji, Gaara, Kankuro, Temari, Dosu, Naruto the loudmouth, Sasuke, Shino the bug guy and pineapple-haired Shikamaru.

"-_cough_- One of you is missing," Hayate said, "but to those of you who –_cough_- earned the rights –_cough_- to compete in the third and final test of the Chunin Exams, congratulations!"

_Huzzah,_ I thought dully. _Now what?_

"Now I will explain the Third Test," said the Hokage. "As I explained before, many important people will be watching your matches. You will fight for the honor of your countries, so we'd like you to fight using all of your powers. Holding nothing back."

He took a breath before dropping the bomb on us.

"Which is why the final test will take place one month from now."

_Whaaaaa?!_

"You could consider this valuable time to research your potential opponents," the Hokage continued. "To estimate your chances of winning. Train, better yourself. If you need to rest your body, do that as well. Now, before I dismiss you, there's one thing left to do."

"What the hell is it?!" Naruto yelled impatiently. I shook my head. _You idiot…_

Mitarashi Anko stepped forward, carrying a box with a hole in the top. There are eleven papers in this box," she said. "I'll come around, and you'll each take one."

My paper had a large number three on it. Anko looked at everyone's papers and numbers and relayed them to Ibiki, who wrote something on a clipboard.

"In that case," the Hokage said, "here are the matches for the Chunin Exams tournament!" _Tournament. Right._

_How in the Five Great Shinobi Nations am I supposed to win against any of these shinobi?!_

We all looked at the clipboard.

So the way the final test played out was this:

Match One-Naruto vs. Neji.

Match Three-Sasuke vs. Kankuro.

Match Four-Shino vs. Temari.

Match Five-Shikamaru vs. Dosu.

….Oh, and did I mention Match Two?

That's right.

Match Two-Shara vs. Gaara.

I was roadkill.

……………………………

"Any questions before I dismiss you?" asked the Hokage. _Yeah, I've got a question. Are you __**trying**__ to get me killed? What the hell did I ever do to you?!_

Shikamaru raised his hand, looking bored. "Since it's a tournament, there can only be one winner, right?" he asked. "So does that mean only one person here gets promotion to Chunin?"

"No," was the reply. "Myself and other judges will be evaluating your battles. Those judged worthy of promotion will become Chunin, even if they lose."

Temari spoke up. "So then there's a possibility that everyone here could make it to Chunin?" "Yes. And there's also the possibility that _none_ of you will make it." Oh, brilliant. So even after all we've been through, none of us might make it?

"Well then, thank you for your efforts! For one month, you are dismissed!"

At last. _So this is what Sensei meant by training me "later." _

"Come on, then-Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, Shara," Baki-sensei said. "We've got a lot of work to do."

He looked me in the eyes. "A _lot _of work."

I nodded.I got the feeling that during this month, I would either improve drastically or die.

The five of us left the building.

_Hopefully I can survive a month with these four…._

**To Be Continued….**

**A/N: So now the question is, will Shara-chan survive Baki's training? (Lol.) I wonder what'll happen in a month…..? **

**This was a short chapter. I know, and I am so very sorry! Gomenasai!! –bows in shame- It just seemed like a good place to end it…Apologies again. -.-; -SS**


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: Ah-ha! Found someone! Lee-san, would you please do my disclaimer?

Rock Lee: Certainly! SkywardShadow-san does not own Naruto or any of the characters in it! Except for Shara-san, who happens to be the OC!

Me:..Wow, Lee-san, that was a really good disclaimer. Anything else you wanna say..?

Lee: YOUTH!!

Me:…Right. That's why we love ya, Lee…-.-;

**A/N: You guys are going to KILL me, but…This chapter is out early because the next one is going to be horrendously, terribly, awfully LATE.**

**Gah!! I AM SO SORRY!! –bows- **

**Wanderer of the Sand**

**Chapter XVII**

……………………………………

"High left! Lower right! Faster, Shara; I've seen three-year-olds who were better at Taijutsu! Lower left! High right/Twelve Fists combo! High left! _Move!_"

I didn't even have the strength to utter a "Yes, Sensei".

It was Day Three of our "Preparation Time," as Baki-sensei called it. We were sort of camping out in a rocky little area just outside of the village. Immediately after finding the spot, Baki-sensei had sent Gaara, Temari and Kankuro off to train by themselves (I wondered what kind of training you do with sand, puppets and a giant fan?), keeping me for my promised training.

I suppose I should be grateful that he sent them away. At least that way they couldn't see him beating the living crap out of me. Over and over again.

Day One, he had 'evaluated' my skills (or lack thereof, as was the verdict) and started my training all over again, starting from the basics. I had forgotten how tough he was; I ended that day so bruised and battered you couldn't even tell what color my skin was.

Day Two, shockingly enough, Baki-sensei decided to teach me a new technique. It was called the Twelve Fists Technique, a move which allows you to deliver a load of lightning-fast punches and kicks so quickly you appear to have twelve limbs-hence the name. At least, that was what it did in State One. There were three states of mastery to the Twelve Fists. In State Two, your entire body speed doubles. I'd heard that the Kazekage had once achieved tripling his speed with the technique, but he had to be hospitalized for nearly a year afterwards.

In the third state, the Mastered State, your body's strength close to triples. Your speed also goes up by another 10 percent.

As with all powerful jutsus, the Twelve Fists came at a high cost. In the First State, every blow you delivered cost 1 percent of your remaining chakra. State Two gulped down 10 percent of your chakra for every straight five minutes you used it. And in the Mastered State, between the advanced speed and power, you were almost guaranteed to run out of chakra within 15 minutes. So, obviously, it was a technique to be used with extreme caution.

In order to make the most of the technique, I really needed to be accurate enough to make every blow count. So on Day Three, aka today, Baki-sensei said that I needed to brush up on my Taijutsu (only he didn't put it so kindly) and began teaching me a slew of martial arts moves alongside the Twelve Fists.

Put simply-at the moment, I felt like

one

big

bruise.

Ah, the joy of having a Sensei.

Day in and day out, Baki-sensei pounded me into the dirt without breaking a sweat. In between battering sessions (I hesitated to say 'training'-how much can you learn when all you're doing is elevating your chances of permanent brain damage?), mainly two thoughts plagued me.

Number One being the dreaded fight with Gaara. I had seen enough by now to know that I didn't have a ghost of a chance. At worst-or maybe even at best-I would be carted away from the arena in a body bag..

The hardest part though, I thought, would be keeping my resolve in place. The resolve I had firmly established without allowing myself to think twice about it, the resolve to try as hard as I could to hurt my opponent. To defeat him without hesitation.

Normally, I didn't really have that much of an issue with that. But in this case, well, you understand.

So _that_ was always on my mind. Constantly lingering right behind it was, _What's going to happen to me when this is all over?_

There was no way I could go back to Suna. Or was there? Maybe if I did well enough in the Exams..? _No. Stop it, Shara. Don't give yourself empty hope with 'maybe's. You can't go back to Sunagakure. End of story. Hasn't that already been established? _

_**Smack!**_

I reeled backward, wincing at the sharp, sudden pain crawling through the side of my face. "Pay…attention…," Baki-sensei said in a slow, dangerous voice. "If I were an opponent, going all-out, you would be dead. _Never_ let your guard down, understand? I thought I taught you that!" I nodded. "Yes, Sensei." He smacked me again. I struggled to ignore it. "'Yes, Sensei'!" he yelled, clearly out of patience for me. "That's all you ever say, you moronic girl! 'Yes, Sensei.' 'I understand, Sensei.' 'Crystal clear, Sensei.' _Enough_! You do _not_ get it. You do _not_ understand. If half of what you said were true, you would be putting up a decent fight against me instead of failing _every single time_!" He paused for breath. I stood in silent shock. I had never seen him lose his temper before. _He could give Temari a run for her money…_

"Uh, Baki-sensei?" My eyes widened, then squeezed themselves shut. _Oh, Kami…You really hate me, don't you…?_ The Sand Siblings had heard their teacher shouting himself hoarse and come to see what was going on. Wonderful. Now they, too would get to witness my shame. I sighed and greeted them.

"…Hello; Temari-san, Kankuro-san, Gaara-sam-ah, Gaara-san." _That was close. _

The trio ignored me, which was actually to be expected at this point. "Is, uh, something wrong, Baki-sensei?" Kankuro asked cautiously. Sensei gave him what had coined the phrase "If looks could kill." The boy backed up. "Right."

"All of you. Go back to your training," Baki-sensei ordered, sounding surprisingly calm. "This is none of your concern. Is that clear?" Temari narrowed her eyes and retorted snarkily, "Actually, Baki-sensei, it _is_ our concern. You _made_ it our concern when you let this girl on to our team." She waved a hand at me dismissively.

"Go. Train. Now." Baki-sensei could give you a heart attack with that tone of voice. The three Sand shinobi wordlessly returned to their own training.

"I-I-" What did he want me to say? "I'm sorry. I swear I'll try much harder from now on." I bowed. He sighed.

"……" _Well?_

"High left!"

I almost grinned, but decided that the energy would be better saved for later.

**To Be Continued…..**

**A/N: I would like the opinion of my cherished readers on something. Am I making Temari too much of a jerk? It's not like I dislike her or anything; she just seems like she'd totally clash with Shara. If you don't mind weighing in, I would really appreciate the feedback!**

**Random thing-in a certain volume of a certain manga, the honorific "-sama" was described as addressing someone of a much higher rank than yourself, or "in a romantic sense, in addressing someone on whom you are crushing, wicked hard." –grin- So I guess that explains Matsuri (and Shara), huh? Thanks for reading! –SS**


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Count your blessings. XD (I do own Shara, though.)

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Jacqulin; thanks for Alerting! Also to Yonoka Takai; thanks for Alerting as well! Special shout-out to Riropin; domo arigato for reviewing 3 times in 1 night…-happy dance- **

**Wanderer of the Sand**

**Chapter XVIII**

………………………………**..**

Two weeks had passed since…well, since Baki-sensei's blowup (isn't _that_ a sad little milestone).

After a long day of training, I would've been all too happy to sleep like a rock. But of course, tonight I couldn't escape the nightmares that had seemed to stalk me lately. I woke up for about the fifth time, and at…oh, I don't know, probably around 3 o'clock in the morning.

"I give up," I muttered, throwing my hands up in surrender. "Clearly I was not fated to sleep tonight." I looked around drowsily at my teammates, still sleeping soundly in their sleeping bags. Temari actually looked kind of nice in her sleep. Kankuro was sprawled out everywhere, occasionally kicking his sister in his sleep.

I frowned. Where was Gaara? And Baki-sensei, for that matter?

_Well, I'm already up. Why not?_ I slipped out of my bag and investigated our training area as silently as possible. No sign of them. So I walked towards Konoha. Good thing our site was literally _just_ outside the village…

I walked down the dark, silent streets. Nobody was out at this time of night. It was a very peaceful feeling. I resisted the urge to just pick a roof and stargaze; Baki-sensei would skin me alive.

After a while, I came to a large building with a gigantic fish sculpture on its roof. The fish was on its belly, tail flopping up over its head. The full moon was right above it. In the faint silver light I noticed a dark figure sitting on the tail of the fish. _Is that him?_

"I give up. Do you never sleep?" a low voice inquired. I almost jumped out of my skin. Squinting, I could see that it was Dosu, the bandaged Sound ninja. "What do you want?" Gaara snapped irritably. "I was going to try and get you while you slept, but I suppose we can just fight here. That way I'll have a higher chance of getting to fight Uchiha Sasuke in the finals."

…_.What a complete idiot. He's got no chance,_ I thought in disbelief. "I know of your sand attacks," Dosu continued smugly. "Wonder if it's faster than my sound waves?"

"…The full moon," Gaara stated softly, "is when **it's** blood stirs up…"

_It's…? Oh, crap!_ Dosu was done for unless I did something. I started climbing up the side of the building, reaching the top just in time to see Gaara transforming into…something.

It had to be the Shukaku, obviously. Half of Gaara's body had become that of a huge, sand-colored creature covered in violet cracks, bearing giant claws and cruel yellow-black eyes.

Dosu's eyes grew wide with fear. "Wh-what _are _you?!" he cried. I was frozen to the spot. "_Get out of here, you idiot_!" I screamed. The Shukaku side reared back, then viciously swiped at the Sound ninja with its large claws.

I looked away.

………………………

The impact shook the building. I crouched down and clung to the shingles for dear life.

When the dust cleared, the transformation had receded, and three deep claw marks had partially shattered the roof.

My first thought, ridiculously, was, _Konoha's going to sue someone for all this damage…_

Then I looked closer at the marks. Lying somewhat between them was the shredded body of Dosu. Blood puddled around him.

I bowed my head to the roof sadly. _Dosu, you idiot_.

I looked over at Gaara. He was hunched over, panting slightly. I stepped toward him apprehensively; he whipped around and glared at me.

"H-hello," I said, silently cursing my voice for shaking. "Why are you up here?" _Oh, aren't you brilliant. Make small talk with the guy right after he's killed someone. Idiot._

"….."

"Guess you couldn't sleep either, hn?"

"….."

I bit back a sigh and laid down on the roof, watching the stars.

"…..What are you doing." It didn't really sound like a question, but I was just happy to get an actual sentence out of him. "Stargazing. It's very…calming. Would you like to try it?"

"….."

"…Right. You prefer the moon. I apologize…I guess I forgot." He looked at me with the barest trace of confusion. "How do you know that?" Oops.

"Erm…Well…" Oh, whatever. There really wasn't much point in keeping it a secret, right? I sighed. "You probably don't remember, but we were…um, acquaintances a few years ago. Before I got kic-before I left." I swiveled my head in the other direction. If he didn't remember…well, great. If he did…_Hmm._

"….."

So he didn't remember. _That's that, then._ "I-I'm sorry to have bothered you," I said quickly, standing up and heading for the edge of the roof to leave. Right before jumping down, I turned and asked, "Do you come up here every night then, Gaara-sama?" _Cripes._ My tongue was a traitor.

"….."

I glanced back. He nodded slowly. I smiled. "Um, I'll see you tomorrow, then…" And I jumped back down to ground.

…………………………….

I was on the way out of the village when I heard footsteps on top of a nearby building. "Examiner-san, what are you doing alone out here?" a mocking voice asked. I frowned. _Sensei?_ "Guess there's no-_cough_-choice but to fight," was the reply. I felt my eyes widen. _What is going on here?!_

One set of footsteps accelerated. I heard the _whoosh_ of a swinging sword, followed by the _chud _sort of noise made when blade met flesh. I bit my lip hard.

"So this is Konoha's famed 'Dance of the Crescent Moon' technique. Impressive," Baki-sensei commented smoothly. "You swung brilliantly…But a physical blade can be halted. A blade of _wind_…does not have that weakness." _Blade of wind? What is he talking about?_

_**Shlek.**_

_**Thud.**_

A few seconds passed, and then I felt a raindrop hit the top of my head. Followed by another, and another. _That's funny,_ I thought._ It's a clear night…_

My stomach lurched. I felt the wetness on the top of my head, then withdrew my hand to see…

Blood. Blood was streaming down on me from the rooftop.

I forced my mouth shut. After I heard footsteps retreat from the building, I figured it was now safe to throw up and did so.

…………………………………..

After I had finished, I once again found myself climbing up onto a roof.

Surrounded by blood and cut nearly in half was the body of Gekko Hayate, the referee and Konoha Jonin.

I wilted to the ground. _Why did Baki kill him?_ I thought, feeling cold with shock.

_What the hell did I get myself into when I joined this team?!_

**To Be Continued…..**

**A/N: Curse it. I liked Hayate. :( **

**What did you think? Reviews are more appreciated than you'll ever know, but obviously, don't feel like you have to. Thank you so very much for reading this. -SS**


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto….Sakura wouldn't be such a flipping rabid fangirl (I'm talking pre-Shippuden)! 

**Wanderer of the Sand**

**Chapter XIX**

……………………………**..**

I sat there for a long time, thinking about everything, and of nothing at all.

At some point I closed my eyes for a minute, and when I opened them again it was morning.

I blinked. I had spent the night on a rooftop next to a dead body.

And Baki-sensei had probably gone back and not known where I was….

_If that's the case, then today is the day I die…_

………………………………….

_**Smack.**_

I went flying across the area. Footsteps, and then I was kicked right back the other way before even hitting the ground. I kept my mouth shut.

This went on for another five minutes before Baki-sensei felt that I had learned my lesson. Battered, I bowed deeply to my instructor. "Gomenasai, Sensei-sama!" I yelled, hoping to earn points with politeness and enthusiasm.

I could understand his fury. After all, the battles to come were a matter of life and death, so everyone had to be considered an enemy. A shameless Genin like Dosu could've killed me in my sleep easily. I had made a moronic mistake, but what was done was done. Hopefully Baki-sensei would forgive me at some point, and the sooner the better-I needed to ask him about Hayate and the need for such bloodshed outside the Exams.

He was silent in response to my apology. I shifted to plan B. "Is there anything I can do to make it up to you, Sensei-sama?! I'll run 1,000 laps around the training area if you want!" _Kami, I sound like Rock Lee now…_

Still nothing but silence. I felt the all-too-familiar feeling of idiocy coming on. "Sensei…?" I ventured quietly.

He sighed, sounding exhausted. "I'm going to say this only once," he warned. "If you slip up like this _one..more..time_, you are through. Do you understand?"

"…_.you're through here. Gone. Banished. I don't care where you go….if I ever see your face in Sunagakure again, I will kill you…do you understand?"_

I froze at the remembrance. I had screwed up one time too many with the Kazekage, and lost my home as a penalty. I _had_ to avoid making the same mistakes with my team and with Baki-sensei.

I nodded. "Completely, Sensei." "Good. Now, would you mind explaining why you were wandering around Konoha in the first place?"

"I woke up, saw that you and Gaara-sama were missing, and decided to look for you." He frowned. "Gaara was missing?" _Uh-oh. Subject change time….and now is as good a time as any to ask. _

"Um-Sensei, could I ask you something important?" He raised an eyebrow. "What is it?" I took a deep breath. When I spoke, the words came out in a rush. "Whydidyoukillthatrefereelastnight?"

"_What_?" Gulp. "Why did you…kill that referee last night…?"

His face got hard. _Crap._ "You saw that…." It wasn't a question. I kept quiet. He shook his head, and then gave me the most serious look I had ever seen. And I've seen some _serious_ faces.

"Shara," he said, looking me in the eyes. "Would you be willing to do anything for your team-no, for the honor of your country?"

_Anything_….That was a word filled to the brim with nerve-wracking possibilities. But I knew that "anything" was just another word to a real shinobi. They had to be able to do _anything _without batting an eye. So I returned his gaze and answered, "Yes, Sensei" as seriously as possible.

His stare bore into me, piercing my eyes and shooting through my thoughts. "Are. You. _Sure_. Do you swear on your honor as a Suna shinobi."

Those words were a key in the lock of a door. A door which lead to escape from my agreement. A door which was closing…fast.

I knew that whatever this was, there would be no turning back. _But…_ "Yes, Sensei," I answered.

The door slammed shut.

I felt more like a shinobi than ever.

_Hn. So what have I gotten myself into __**now**__? _

"Good," Baki-sensei replied. "Then…I suppose it's time I told you about our mission."

_Mission?_ "This mission is A-plus-ranked," he continued sternly. "We can _not_ fail." _An A-plus-ranked mission? Is this a joke?! We're only Genin! _

If I thought _that_ was surprising, what happened next was the pinnacle of shock.

"If you take part in the success of this mission," he added, "…..then I will convince the honored Kazekage-sama to allow you to return to Sunagakure."

I flinched as a shock shot through my body. _Oh God. Oh God oh God…!!_

Sunagakure-Sand Village-h_ome_! I could go home!

"I'll do it, Sensei. Whatever it takes, I'll help complete this mission," I burst out. "What_ is_ the mission?"

He smirked at first. Then he resumed his serious expression.

"Our mission," he said in a low voice, "is to destroy Konoha."

**To Be Continued…….**

**A/N: Cliffhangers are so annoying, aren't they? I feel so evil….gomenasai all, and I hope you enjoyed! Reviews are much appreciated, but feel no obligation…Thanks for reading!! –SS**


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: Umm…I am once again in a rut over creative disclaimers…Gomen….I do not own Naruto, only Shara, my OC. 

**A/N: WHOO-HOOO!! It's Chapter 20! **

**Milestone! Cookies for all!**

**All of you who've actually read this far, THANK YOU SO MUCH!! –bows-**

**Special shout-out to Lela Rye and jinxedpixie, who just about review every chapter; domo arigato!! You two in particular rock!**

**Well, now that I've finished being a total spazz case, enjoy Chapter 20!**

**Wanderer of the Sand**

**Chapter XX**

………………………………**.**

It seemed to take forever for me to find my voice.

"W-_what_?!" I finally yelped, forcing a lot of shock and horror into that one word.

Baki-sensei sat on the ground, motioning for me to sit as well. I did so, quivering ever so slightly. My sensei wasn't one to joke. Actually, I think a dead rabbit had more potential to joke than Baki-sensei.

_Destroy Konoha??_ I thought, dazed. I had to have heard wrong. Why and how would Suna try something like that?

"'Destroy Konoha' is it in a nutshell," he began. "But there's plenty more to it than that."

"See, Konoha is the strongest of the Five Great Shinobi Nations. It essentially always has been. That became a _real_ problem recently, because the Daimyo-who as you know rules over the Land of Wind-began commissioning more Leaf shinobi than Sand. He also began to cut back Suna's budget."

His face was hard and angry. "The Kazekage realized that Sunagakure would eventually just melt away, so he assigned this all-important mission to eliminate out rival and return to the proud village we once were."

I felt lightheaded and very sick. "H-how do you plan on doing this? You and Temari-san and Kankuro-san and Gaara-sama are powerful, but you can't take down an entire Hidden Village by yourselves."

His eyes narrowed slightly. "First of all, stop saying things like 'How do _you_ plan to do this' and such. Lest you forget, you are a part of this too. _Remember_?"

_Oh Kami. Oh God._ I _was_ a part of this now, whether I liked it or not. I had sworn. If I tried to back out…I knew too much. Baki would kill me without blinking.

I had no choice.

"Of-of course. Sorry, Sensei. I meant, how do _we_ plan on doing this?"

Satisfied, he launched into an explanation of the plan.

…………………………………….

Half an hour passed, and I was released. I retreated to the forest where this mess had all started, wandering about in a dreamlike state until I found my tree. I climbed up to the top branch and put my head in my hands, closed my eyes.

The plan kept running through my head, along with frenzied thoughts of my own.

"_**We have allied ourselves with Otogakure, the Village Hidden in the Sound."**_

_Those boneheads? Have we really sunk so low?_

"_**Sound Village is lead by one of the three Sannin, Legendary Shinobi, the lord of snakes-Orochimaru."**_

_Orochimaru. A Legendary Ninja…just how powerful is he?_

"_**On the day of the Third Chunin Exams Test, we will put in place a Genjutsu that distracts the audience. A special chakra dome created by the Sound Four-Orochimaru's most trusted ninja-will trap Orochimaru with the Third Hokage."**_

_That's going to have to be one heck of a Genjutsu…_

"_**With the Hokage busy, the Sound nin will Summon a giant snake, which will destroy part of the wall surrounding the village. Buildings will be damaged, defending Leaf shinobi's attention will be diverted, and the carnage will also be a signal to hiding Sand and Sound ninja waiting right outside Konoha."**_

_Ah. So th-so we have ninja in reserve. I should have known._

"_**Our secret and most powerful weapon, though…."**_

_It gets worse..?_

"…_**is the Shukaku inside Gaara. If and when he releases the One-Tailed demon, it will completely destroy the village."**_

…Hatred is not something one should feel toward their sensei.

For a few minutes that day, though, hatred is _exactly_ what I felt.

…………………………………..

**-Day 20-**

Training continued, but twice as hard. I could only hope Baki-sensei understood that if he permanently injured me, I couldn't fight, either in the Exams or in the mission.

_The mission…_

I didn't want to kill anyone. Besides which, this mission was probably going to trigger another Great Shinobi War, in which most likely _millions_ more would die.

My stomach rolled just thinking about it. But what choice did I have? If I attempted to break away from this mess I would die, and what was the point of that? Nobody would benefit.

**-Day 23-**

Time was passing too quickly. The day myself and my teammates would be forced to be true shinobi loomed closer and closer.

I didn't speak to them. I barely spoke to Baki. I never left the training grounds.

In one week, I was going to become a killer.

I didn't even want to go back to Sunagakure anymore, not after they had eliminated a village just for working hard and doing their best.

**-Day 26-**

I felt almost feverish. What if I ended up pitted against Tenten? Or the loudmouth, or Sakura? What was going to happen to the injured, like Lee and Hinata? Would they be killed in cold blood?

Did the Kazekage intend to allow _anyone_ to escape the massacre?

_I don't want to kill anyone!_

I didn't want my _team_ to have to kill anyone, either.

_But there's nothing to be done, is there._

**-Day 28-**

I couldn't do this.

_I have to find the Hokage._

**To Be Continued…..**


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, I probably wouldn't have time to write this fic. Therefore, I do not own Naruto. Just Shara.

**A/N: -Ahem- Shara-chan has something to say.**

**Shara:….This is ridiculous. **

**Me: What, you aren't grateful?**

**Shara: Of course I am, but-**

**Me: Say it, or I shall turn this story into a lemon between you and Baki! –crossing fingers-**

**Shara: -pales- All right, all right! Um, some of you readers have sent in reviews expressing concern for my health, along with other things such as calling my sensei "an evil, evil man." Me: He's still seething about that comment…**

**Shara: While I refuse to say anything negative about Baki-sensei, I would like to thank you for your concern. –bows- Oh, and Skyward would like to add that the "evil man" review in particular made said author crack up. **

**Thank you all. –bows again-**

**Wanderer of the Sand**

**Chapter XXI**

…………………………………**..**

It took every microscopic speck of my stealth abilities to slip away from my team that night, but I managed to do it.

The Hokage probably wouldn't be happy about being disturbed like this in the middle of the night, but what was I supposed to do? Baki-sensei would let me off during the daytime over his dead body; now that I knew about the mission, I was being trained harder than ever.

I wondered, did the mission mean that I wasn't going to have to fight Gaara at all? It would just be a waste of both of our power, which was ridiculous if we were expected to fight a bunch of other ninja…

I slapped myself. _Why are you even thinking like that? The answer to that question doesn't matter, because the mission will not happen. You will __**not**__ let it happen!_

At least, I hoped I wouldn't.

……………………………………….

Unbelievable.

Absolutely unbelievable.

I suppose it was ironic, in a way. Poetic justice. When I wanted to see the Kazekage and do the most idiotic thing of my life, I was free to meet him. But when I wanted to warn the Hokage about an imminent attack on his village…

They wouldn't let me in.

This was _insane_. "I _need_ to speak to the Hokage," I repeated once again in a tone of forced calm. "It's an emergency. It'll affect everyone in Konoha if I don't get into this building _right now_." The guards exchanged weary glances. The bigger one looked back to me and said in a bored voice, "We heard you the first…" He looked at his partner briefly; the other guy held up five fingers. "…..five times, kid. Have you not been listening? _We…can..not…let…foreign…shinobi….into…the Hokage's…building…at…this..time_."

"_Especially_ not overexcited Genin," Guard Number 2 chimed in. "The honorable Hokage has his hands full as it is. Besides, if you want a chance in tomorrow's exam, you better train instead of pestering us."

I was infuriated. "Have _you_ not been listening?" I responded icily. "**This is an emergency.** There is a dangerous conspiracy going on here, and you might as well destroy your village yourself if you won't-"

"Enough," Number 1 interrupted angrily. "You're going too far, kid. Nothing is going to destroy this village. What you just said could be interpreted as-"

"I don't _care_!" I blurted. "Don't you pinheads get it?! The Hokage and everyone else of Konoha is in danger, and I have information that could prevent total chaos, so don't you get all high-and-mighty with me! Let me see the Hokage! _**Now**_!"

…Needless to say, I felt like a complete moron the instant those words escaped. One, they wouldn't exactly get the guards on my side; two, they made me sound childish; and three, I was now about a half-inch away from getting kicked out of the village altogether.

I couldn't tell the guards what the situation was, because they either wouldn't believe me (it's not as if I had _any_ credibility in the Leaf Village), or they could be spies for Sand or Sound. But they weren't going to let me in, and no way could I take down two Jonin by myself, _least _of all without causing a fuss.

Number 1 scowled, Number 2 laughed outright. I wanted to rip his head clean off (now I _knew_ Baki-sensei's training was affecting me; I usually wasn't this violent-minded or hot-tempered).

"Get out of here, kid," the first guard said firmly. "If I see you anywhere near this building again…" He left it up to my imagination.

I swore viciously at them as I turned to leave. It's not like I had anything left to lose.

Nothing that _they_ could take away, anyway.

………………………………………

**-Day 29-**

_So now what?_

I asked myself that question countless times during the final 24 hours of sanctuary. I couldn't see the Hokage (especially not now-security had tightened around his building after my disgustingly disastrous visit), and I couldn't really trust anyone else. Not with something as big as this.

_So what now?_

Tomorrow was the Day of Reckoning, and I would probably die in the middle of it. Probably because I knew I couldn't kill any Konoha shinobi (that and the fact that I had no talent myself). Especially not for such a stupid reason. Couldn't the Kazekage have talked things out with the Daimyo and worked the whole mess out diplomatically?

_But there's no point in thinking like that. What's done is done, and there's nothing left to do but fix it._

But _how_?

One rogue Genin with little to no experience could do nothing in the face of this looming international, political, bloody bloody mess.

I sank into hopelessness. It was shameful but necessary, unless I wanted to lose my mind to "what if"s and "maybe"s. I had no prospects and no plans; all that was left for me to do was endure the training that remained and hope for swift death in the battle to come.

Maybe I'd get lucky and die by Gaara's hand before I had to betray an innocent village.

If I was going to be killed, at least it could be because of someone I cared about.

………………………………………….

**-Day 30: Doomsday- **

I didn't sleep at all that last night. All I could think about was the inescapable fact that in the morning, I was going to either kill or be killed.

We all made the silent journey to the arena-the _new_ arena, a huge outdoor space complete with random scatterings of trees and, around the top, shaded viewing boxes for the no doubt hundreds of spectators. I was starting to feel sick again.

_No worries, Shara. It'll all be over soon. Everything will be over_, said a snide, slimy voice in my mind. I frowned, but I knew it was right.

"Hey, Shara!"

I couldn't say for _sure_ whether my eyes popped out of my skull, but based on my remaining ability to see, I concluded that they had not. It was close, though.

"T-Tenten-san?" I choked, turning around.

She was wearing makeup, normal clothing and no forehead protector, but it was indeed Tenten. _That's right,_ I remembered. _She's not fighting today…_

She smiled. I glanced back at my teammates (Baki-sensei had gone ahead to one of the viewing boxes, in order to greet the Kazekage), then turned to them.

"Please excuse me for a second," I said, bowing slightly and backing away.

We walked until we were out of the Sand Sibling's hearing range. "I'm glad to see you," she beamed. "Me too," I replied softly. _I wish things didn't have to be this way. _

"What?" Oops. Apparently I'd said that out loud.

Hn. Did it really matter? Did _anything_ really matter at this point? I took a deep breath, let it out, and forgot to breathe in again.

Tenten thwacked my head to remind me to inhale. "What's going on?" she asked apprehensively.

"Long story short, I'm going to die today," I said quietly.

All right, maybe that was _not_ the best way to say it. Horror engulfed her face. "Why the heck would you say that?!"

I shrugged. I was angry with myself for being so hopeless and flippant about the whole situation, but depression had set in like a bad smell and refused to go away.

So I lied, sort of. I told her calmly that I didn't think it was worth fighting, that I had no chance, and I might as well just go jump off a cliff and save my opponent the trouble.

She listened with an expressionless face. And I'm no expert on the weapon-mistress, but I think it's safe to say that what she did next was pretty un-Tentenlike.

She punched me in the face with everything she had.

I staggered backwards. My face hurt like _heck_.

But it wasn't enough to break through the 'gray layer' of depression. So I just blinked at her. "Are-you-_**insane**_?!" she hissed lividly. "You think you have no chance, so you're just going to _give up_?!" She punched me again.

The gray layer cracked, ever so slightly.

She gripped my arm tightly, fury in her eyes. "The honor of your country is at stake here! You've trained on and on, you've gotten the crap beat out of you, your team is counting on you-how _dare_ you even _consider_ giving up?!" _**Smack.**_ Another hit, another crack.

"I can't believe you're talking like this!" she ranted. "How can you think-_agh_!!" Evidently words couldn't describe her frustration that time, so she broke off with a strangled yell and hit me yet again.

After a few seconds her face dropped its fiery exterior, switching tactics. It now radiated ice. Cold, hard, pure anger. "You're pathetic," she hissed. "How can you have the _gall_ to call yourself a shinobi."

And she slapped me once more.

The gray layer shattered.

_Oh….God,_ I thought, feeling as if though I was waking up.

I had been _that close_ to quitting. To letting Gaara win, letting my life get thrown away, letting Konoha get invaded, letting many people die.

I could have stabbed my hand with a kunai right there and then, that was how ashamed I was. I felt my eyes growing wide again, and to my horror they were tearing up as well. "K-Kami," I stammered. "I-I…"

I wanted to hug her, but I also intended to hold on to whatever dignity I had left. "You-you're right, Tenten-san," I said softly. "I'm so sorry."

She was caught off-guard, but composed herself quickly. "Uh-well, it's okay, I guess. As long as you fight as hard as you can today, got it?!"

I nodded. "I will. Thank you..so much."

She smiled. "Good luck."

_Yeah,_ I thought as I headed back to my team, ignoring their stares.

_I'm going to need it now more than ever._

**To Be Continued…..**

**A/N: …So, you probably all hate Shara now, awful as she was in this chapter. –bowing frantically- I am so sorry!! Please give the girl a break…She's been through a lot, and Tenten brought her back, right? **

**Hopefully I'll see you again next chapter. -.-;; -SkywardShadow**


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I only own my OC, Shara. (Gah! I've returned to this broken record state! Gomen!)

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to strawberrybabecutie; thanks for reviewing, Alerting and Favoriting! Also to Kasumi9 – 9; thanks for Alerting!**

**Wanderer of the Sand**

**Chapter XXII**

……………………………………

The rest of the walk I was silent, deep in thought.

I had confidence. Sure. Artificial, forced confidence, pounded into me by an irate kunoichi. That was not exactly encouraging. But what was I going to do, back out?

I had adopted a new strategy. I was going to focus solely on the fight against Gaara (read: _My impending doom_) for now. If I was still amongst the living afterwards, _then_ I would panic over the mission. Worrying about it before the fight was pointless; it would only hinder my already limited ability to battle Gaara.

When we reached the arena (the viewing boxes were jam-packed) I stood next to my teammates, quivering inside, trying to maintain a calm façade.

I glanced around. The lou-Naruto was there, along with Neji, Shikamaru, and the bug guy-Shino, maybe? Sasuke wasn't there, and neither was Dosu. Of course I remembered why the latter wasn't present, but I wondered about Sasuke. Why was he so late?

A tall, pale-haired Jonin led us out into the middle of the arena. The crowd erupted with cheers. I shuddered violently, earning a roll of the eyes from Temari.

The Hokage sat in one of the most ornate viewing boxes.

Sitting next to him, dressed formally and masking half his face, was the Kazekage.

I bit my lip nervously. _There he is._ The powerful man I had made my enemy. It felt very strange, seeing him like this after five years.

Abruptly the Hokage stood and called out, "Welcome everyone-to the third test of the Chunin Selection Exams!"

While he addressed the crowd, the pale-haired Jonin turned to us and held up a sheet of paper. "I want everyone to take a look at this," he said. "There've been some last-minute changes to the match-ups, so I would double-check to confirm your opponent."

Dosu's death had only minor impact on the matches. Naruto was still facing Neji, Kankuro against Shino, Temari against Shikamaru. I would still fight Gaara, and the winner of that battle would go on to face Sasuke.

"Hey! What happens if Sasuke doesn't show?" asked Naruto. "If Uchiha Sasuke doesn't make it here before his own match, he loses by default," was the reply.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Gaara seemed more serious than usual. His expression read "concentration," but after a second or two it morphed into an ominous, somewhat crazy smirk. _Not that again,_ I thought in exasperation. But then again, Baki-sensei had mentioned the Shukaku being their best asset in the fight to come. Did that mean Gaara had _agreed_ to release the demon on hapless people?

"All right, guys," the Jonin said. "This is the final test. Different arena, same rules-you lose if you give up or die. But if I've decided that there's a clear winner here, then I'll step in and the fight _stops_. Got it?" We nodded.

"Okay. Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuga Neji, you're up first. The rest of you go to the waiting room."

…………………………………..

The waiting room was another balcony.

The fight was a good one; apparently Neji was widely considered a genius. It was a close match, but Naruto stepped up and won in the end and everyone cheered him on. I smiled, barely resisting the temptation to clap wildly as the exhausted loudmouth flashed us all a wide grin and a peace sign.

"Next match-Shara vs. Gaara! Get down here!" called the examiner.

I exhaled sharply. _There's no backing down or out! I'm going to see this one through!_

Gaara used his sand to get down to the arena; I jumped.

"Good luck," I said calmly as we watched each other. There was no response, other than this from the examiner-

"Match 2-_begin_!"

**To Be Continued…**

**A/N:….Yes, I am a cruel, cruel author. I feel really bad about such a short chapter, but this seemed like a good spot to end it. I hope I haven't gotten you to quit this story by making you wait and then giving you such a **_**short chapter**_**….Gomenasai, gomenasai!! –SS**


	23. Chapter 23

Disclaimer: Found someone at last…Hinata-san, could you please do my disclaimer?

Hinata: Oh-s-sure. Um, SkywardShadow does not own N-Naruto-kun –blushes-….Um, or any of us, r-really. Except for S-Shara, the OC.

Me: Arigato! Erm…Hinata-san, you look a little…

Hinata: -faints from pressure-

Me: Uh, yeah. That. 

**A/N: …Well, while I'm attempting to get poor Hinata home, please enjoy Chapter XXIII!**

**Oh yes, this chapter is dedicated to Neko-Han; thanks for Alerting!**

**Wanderer of the Sand**

**Chapter XXIII**

……………………………………

_Am I shaking? Am I? I hope not,_ I mentally babbled. _Come on, get a grip or he'll win faster than you can say "loser!"_

I forced myself to focus. The cork had fallen from Gaara's gourd, and thin trails of sand drifted around him; the trails were lazy-looking but somehow alert, as if they sensed your every move.

Well, strategically I should probably go all-out from the start. That involved a high level of risk, of course, but weren't we taking our lives in our hands by just entering this competition? The whole exam was one giant risk. _But still…._

In the end, I concluded that throwing caution to the winds was just dead against my better judgment. _So I better test the waters, first off…._

"Are you going to fight or just stand there?" Gaara asked in a low voice. "You're not one to talk," I shot back coolly. _Kami, did I actually just say that to Gaara?_

His eyes narrowed. _Time to get moving._

I was going to need all my speed and a fair amount of chakra for this to be worthwhile. I made the necessary hand signs.

_Kazegakure no Jutsu-Hidden Wind technique!_

_Please work properly, please oh __**please**__ work properly_, I prayed to whatever higher being might be listening.

And someone_ was_ listening. Or maybe I just lucked out. Either way, my body had completely and totally vanished. I heard murmurs rippling through the crowd.

But even if he couldn't _see_ me, my opponent might still be able to _sense_ me moving around. So I suppressed my chakra as much as I dared, and crept toward Gaara, who had closed his eyes in intense concentration. I curled my hand into a fist and struck hard.

The sand barely caught me, nicking my hand just hard enough to push it off course. Gaara's eyes flew open; he knew now _exactly_ where I was. A jet of sand shot toward me with the force and speed of one of Baki-sensei's kunai; I lunged furiously to the side to avoid being hit, but I overdid it; the force of jumping that far that fast caused me to land hard, which made_ plenty_ of noise.

And that of course gave away my position again. _This is most definitely __**not**__ a good start._ This time he sent sand jets rocketing everywhere, not only directly at me but all around me-left, right, up, down, diagonally-everywhere I looked there was attacking sand, and I had a split second to come up with a miracle and avoid being hit by all of it.

_Oh,-!_

I silently swore. If I got hit, I would bleed, and blood did not go well with trying to be invisible.

_**NO TIME!!**_

I turned, ran, and high-tailed it into one of the trees. The branch bounced, noise was made, leaves fell, and the sand had its new target instantly. It all zoomed at me. I held my breath, waiting until the last humanly _possible_ second….

And jumped down. Ran, ran like hellhounds were biting at my heels-hellhounds and a whole army of bloodthirsty enemy Jonin armed with every weapon and jutsu ever created-straight at Gaara.

I jumped high and swung my leg sideways, and caught him in the side of the head.

The initial shock of actually kicking _Gaara_ of all people in the head could be stressed over later (and it would _definitely_ be stressed over, trust me). Even though I'd landed a solid hit, there were still a billion little gold-brown grains after me. _Okay, moving would be great right about now._ I leapt, up, around and backwards, doing a sort of backflip in midair.

The sand stopped by Gaara, pausing its assault. I saw a long, thin crack in the redhead's armor. _Crap, I forgot about that…_

He raised his head, calm ice in his gaze. I backed up slowly-wait, how could he possibly be looking me in the eye while I was-

The sand jolted forward so quickly I couldn't even blink. It widened and sort of flattened, spreading out right before it got me.

It wrapped itself around me like a deadly, evil blanket, revealing my position to the world. _What the heck happened?!_ I thought, feeling a little bit panicky. Glancing downwards, I noticed what is probably the _stupidest_ way to lose a battle in the history of shinobi.

A leaf.

Yes, a _leaf_. Drifting back and forth until it was on the ground.

Mentally retracing my steps, I realized that when I took cover in that tree, _a leaf had gotten caught in my hair._

_I swear to God, if I make it out of this alive, I will shave my head bald and never go near another frickin' tree as long as I live! A __**LEAF**__?! Are you freaking __**KIDDING**__ me?!_

I was opting for death about that point. The humiliation was absolute.

But I had to get over it and figure a way out of this..this..

_Crap._

_Sand Coffin._

I almost panicked. Remembering the Rain ninja all over again…I started sweating. _Think_, I told myself, terrified. _**Think!**__ Think, figure it out, or you'll be dead in a few seconds! Curse it, Shara, __**think of something!!**_

I was going to die. I was going to die.

_Oh Kami._

I tried so hard to think of something-anything. But I began to feel the pressure of the sand closing in on me, and I heard that cold voice hiss "Crushing Sand Funeral," and I remembered….

_I'm going to die!_

Wait. I remembered my _training_.

I could barely breathe anymore.

"T-Twelve Fists.." I gasped out, struggling hard to focus my chakra.

_Please let this work._

**To Be Continued……**

**A/N: I don't know whether to consider this chapter short or not; if you do, feel free to hate me. I'm awful to my wonderful readers. So, so sorry.**

**BUT the next chapter is long. **

**Again, I am SO SORRY. –goes to the corner of woe-**


	24. Chapter 24

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, for crying out loud! I only own Shara (and she's not happy about that, I assure you XD). 

**A/N: OMG, you guys are great! You have forgiven me!! :D So this chapter is long.**

**This chap is dedicated to Mazmysta; thanks for Favoriting and Alerting! Also to SnowStorm752; thanks a load for reviewing, Alerting and Favoriting! **

**Special shout-out to somerandomperson; your review in particular made me really happy!! Domo arigato!**

**I hope all of you thoroughly enjoy Chapter 24. :) -SS**

**Wanderer of the Sand**

**Chapter XXIV**

………………………………………

I may have screamed; I can't say for sure.

The pain of being squeezed to death was excruciating, but mainly it doubled the difficulty of concentrating.

It was only a few seconds, doubtless. But it felt like so much longer to me.

_Concentrate._

Had to focus my chakra just right, or..

_Concentrate._

There was no room for error, and..

_Concentrate!_

..I was essentially out of time.

_Concentrate!_

Now or never.

_Twelve Fists-Mastered State!_

It felt like an explosion of chakra inside of me. My head was in agony, but it was probably only a side effect of using and gaining so much power so quickly.

I spread myself outward as much as possible, putting all of my new strength into my limbs, fighting furiously against the killing sand.

It was a miniature war now, a contest to see who could hold out the longest. Which of us was going to prove more perseverant?

_Harder._

_Harder!!_

I had one more burst of power. I used it.

The Sand Coffin dispersed.

_I did it?_

I had.

I dropped back to the ground. My muscles were sore, but I could ignore that until the end of the fight. What wasn't nearly so easy to brush off was the agonizing, exploding, violently bright pain in my head.It wasn't going away. In fact, if anything, it was growing more intense. _What in the Five Great Shinobi Nations…?_

I forced myself to concentrate. Gaara had an icy, murderous look on his face, and I knew I was going to need every bit of skill I possessed in order to have a chance.

I remembered that in the Mastered State, your speed goes up by about 10 percent.

At the same time, I remembered that I only had around 15 minutes before I ran out of chakra.

I had to move fast. Literally.

I bolted at Gaara again, unsheathing my reliable partner, my katana. I swung at him furiously, only to be blocked by the sand. Over and over again I was foiled in my attempts at getting through, but after a minute or so I realized that the sand was getting slower. More sluggish. It caught me with less and less time to spare, until-

_**Shing.**_

My eyes grew huge as I processed what had just happened. My katana had met resistance.

Gaara straightened, fury in his expression. An angry, bleeding slice marred his cheek. I almost blacked out again, but I snapped back into the reality that was, _this is a fight_.

_He is my enemy, and I've got to take him down, no matter what._

_Because if I don't fight hard, I'll die._

_And besides, I promised Tenten that I'd do my best! I can't falter now just because…_

_Because…_

_**Bam!!**_

I soared backwards, pain blooming in my stomach. While I was spacing out, Gaara had actually resorted to Taijutsu and kicked me full-force. _For someone who doesn't use physical attacks very often, he can do it when it counts._

Of course, it helped that I was an idiot who thought she could get away with going into La-La-Land in the middle of a battle.

I twisted my body in midair so that I could land in a crouch and shoot right back. I swung low this time, and before I even processed the sand's movement I aimed instead for his chest. And it worked. More of the redhead's blood dripped off of my katana. I swallowed hard and sliced again and again, but with minimal results.

A stupid part of me was grateful for that.

He was livid now. Sand started at me from every direction at greater speed than I thought possible; I crossed my arms in front of my head in a defensive move and bit my tongue as the sand hit hard, digging deep into my skin. Tears of agony poured down my cheeks, but I made no sound.

The attack ceased for a moment. I lowered my arms and glanced down at them. I winced; the skin was utterly and deeply shredded. The sand had reached deep, digging through veins and possibly muscles. Every tiny little movement, every slight breeze sent a jolt of intense pain through the wound. I probably wasn't going to be able to use my arm for the remainder of the match. _Crap…_

I switched my katana from one hand to the other, wondering how much time I had left. Not much; probably only about six or seven minutes. _Crap, crap, crap!!_

I looked up at Gaara; it had abruptly occurred to me that he wasn't attacking.

And, well, I nearly fell over.

_Oh Kami, no._ He was transforming.

The Shukaku, the Demon of the Sand, was beginning to emerge.

_What set him off?!_ I thought in a panic. _**He**__ was attacking __**me**__!!_ _So…_

I realized what it was-maybe. I'll probably never know for sure, but..my defensive stance, my last-ditch effort, was derived from Yashamaru's own fighting style. Like he had used on the day little Gaara had unknowingly set sand on those bratty little Suna kids. The strong reminder had set off memories with deep emotional pain attached, and Gaara had partly lost control over the monster.

Only one arm ended up morphing. But it was still enough to unleash a juggernaut of power. If that clawed arm hit me, I was in deep trouble.

I slashed at the claw, partly expecting it not to work, and it didn't. At this point I could only chip away at any little reserve of power or resources that could possibly aid him. I bolted sideways and around and aimed a slash at the straps that held his gourd. Maybe losing the gourd would mean losing the sand.

It was a stupid idea, I know. But I was in a state of desperation.

I didn't get a chance to test my hopeless theory, anyway. Gaara whipped around and hit me squarely with the Shukaku-arm.

I was thrown back with unbelievable force and slammed into the wall of the arena. I was dazed, but tried to move out of the way as he came at me again. But the slightest motion was too much; sharp pain prevented any hope of escape. I had obviously broken something, possibly multiple somethings. I barely managed to sheath my katana before the Shukaku-arm batted me away again. I went flying across the arena like a battered and broken rag doll.

After a few more rounds of Bash The Shara, I was granted a few moments refuge while my opponent, exhausted with the strain of holding back the Shukaku, sought to catch his breath. I felt like half the bones in my body were broken. But I had to move; if I was going to attack, it had to be-

"_Aaaghh_!!"

It took a second to realize that the scream came from me. Excruciating, agonizing, horrible pain was vibrating throughout my body. _It has to be the Twelve Fists,_ I reasoned miserably. My time was up. My internal timer was telling me that I couldn't take much more.

That technique was the only thing keeping me in the fight. I would definitely lose without it helping my speed and strength.

But if I didn't stop using it, I would burn my remaining chakra and die. Painfully. This was only the beginning of a slow death, unless I stopped.

I had to attack. At least once more. I withdrew my sword with a wobbling hand, and stood, shaking with the effort. Another wave of pain. _Oh, God. _It hurt so bad…but I needed to focus.

I summoned up the last of my speed, which was deteriorating alarmingly fast now, and ran forward as swiftly as possible.

He was right in front of me, inches from me, looking slightly surprised.

I took the last of my resolve and put it into my strike. All my strength, all my hope, everything went into that last blow. I knew too late that it might kill him if it hit.

But it got the Shukaku-arm.

The monster's claw earned a deep, ugly scar that bled gold-brown.

And my katana broke.

I froze in shock.

The Shukaku-arm sent me soaring across the arena. What happened from there seemed to be in slow motion.

Gaara was charging toward me again, and I knew I wasn't able to dodge. I managed a weak smile. _It's okay,_ I thought wearily. _This was inevitable._

_Sayonara._

And I closed my eyes….

"That's enough!!"

_Huh??_ I forced my eyes open again, and saw a group of Jonin, including Baki-sensei, surrounding Gaara, whose transformation was starting to recede.

It didn't take a genius to figure it out. The pale-haired referee had ended the fight.

It was all over.

**To Be Continued…..**

**A/N: Jeez, that was a tough chapter to write! I would seriously appreciate a review, but don't feel like you have to…Hope you enjoyed! -SS**


	25. Chapter 25

Disclaimer: Because I'm desperate for a decent disclaimer, I've actually gone so far as to kidnap-I mean, _borrow_-Himura Kenshin from Rurouni Kenshin. 

Kenshin: ORO?!

Me: -snicker- That quote never gets old…

Kenshin: Ororo??

Me: -snicker- Okay. Kenshin-san, would you please do my disclaimer? I'll put you back into your own manga afterwards.

Kenshin: -anime sweatdrop- Umm, all right…? SkywardShadow-dono does not own Naruto or any of the characters in it, except for the OC…What does that mean, exactly?

Me:…I'll explain it later.

**A/N: Heh, heh…I guess I better put Kenshin back in his own manga. Enjoy the chapter!**

**(Oh yeah, this story has gotten 50 reviews!! Thank you all!!)**

**Wanderer of the Sand**

**Chapter XXV**

…………………………………**..**

Reality was swimming in and out of my brain; I was kind of dancing on the fine line between consciousness and the blackout place.

"Match over!" the pale-haired Jonin announced. "Winner-Gaara!"

I winced. Even though, logically, I knew I probably wouldn't win, it was still somewhat painful to have it confirmed when I had tried so hard.

_But what's done is done._ I gave it my all and lost fairly and honorably. That, I could be proud of. Besides, I had still learned some kick-butt techniques. So it wasn't like all my training had

been for nothing.

All things considered, the Chunin Exams had ended relatively well for me.

I realized that the medic-nin were moving to carry me onto a stretcher._ Oh, jeez. _I still had _some_ pride left. I waved them off and forced myself to stand. _Oh, Kami. That really, __**really**__ hurt. _"I-" Was I speaking? It was getting harder to tell. "I can walk on m-my own," I said in a wobbly but firm voice. The medic-nin protested, but Baki-sensei must have told them not to bother arguing. They quit hounding me about walking.

Something harder to convince them of, however, was my ability to stay and watch the remaining fights. After a long and heated argument, I finally earned the right to stay.

They healed what they could; I could move again, though my arm was probably going to be in a constant state of pain for close to a week. Seeing as I thought I might never be able to use it again, this was a pretty good outcome. I was still dangerously low on chakra, which meant I shouldn't get into another battle for at _least_ a few days.

The one thing they couldn't fix was the awful pain in my head, which refused to abate.

Baki-sensei explained to me that I had been in the Mastered State of the Twelve Fists for too long-_way_ too long-and this was my body's form of punishment. He said that the agony would not go away for at least two months.

I almost fell over when he dumped that bombshell on me. Or cried. Either one sounded good at the moment. But oh well; it was the price I paid for power. "Power always has a price." Another one of Baki-sensei's immortal teachings.

Gaara and I started up the stairs to the balcony. I glanced sideways at him as he walked; he was bruised in some places, but mostly scattered with scratches and deep slices from my katana.

My katana. My always faithful partner. Gone. It was the only thing that had always stayed with me, and now it was finished. I bit back more tears.

Halfway up, I paused, realizing that I'd forgotten my 'catchphrase' of sorts for the battles.

I turned to Gaara, smiling, and bowed. "Good fight, Gaara-sama."

And I walked the rest of the way up with a pounding heart, torturing myself by refusing to look back.

……………………………………………

Kankuro was in shock, I'm pretty sure. My guess is that he had kind of mentally established Gaara as a 'god' or something, like an avenging angel that could never be hurt in battle. And now someone had put a scratch on god. He was silent an unmoving upon our return.

Temari kept her emotions to herself, wearing as always the mask of uncaring sarcasm. There were no words of praise from her (not that I expected any), but there were no words of mocking either, which I considered a step up from my original position.

"Next match-Kankuro vs. Aburame Shino! Get down here!!" yelled the proctor.

"Shoot," Kankuro gulped. I looked at him, confused. He was sweating and wearing a nervous expression. His eyes kept darting back and forth between the puppet Karasu tied to his back, and the arena. It took a few seconds to click. _There must be something about Karasu he doesn't want known yet,_ I reasoned. He wants to save whatever it is until…

I gulped, having half-forgotten the mission. How _am I going to get the news to the Hokage…?_

_Oh, __**crap**__! _

I _couldn't_ alert the Hokage.

The Kazekage was sitting right next to him.

_Shoot, shoot, shoot…._

"I forfeit!" Kankuro yelled.

A collective "huh?!" went up.

"Tch," Temari muttered. A fierce expression came over her face, and she opened her fan and used it to get to the arena.

It was her match, against Nara Shikamaru.

…………………………………..

The match was a great one. Both of them were terrific strategists.

In the end, all things considered, Temari should have lost. Shikamaru had her in his "Shadow Possession" technique and could have easily forced her to give up.

But _he_ gave up, instead, and Temari claimed victory. But it wasn't the victory she had wanted. The Sand kunoichi returned to the balcony with greatly wounded pride.

All the while I was in a state of panic. The end of the Exams was looming ever closer, and I didn't even know if Baki-sensei was going to _wait_ until the end. _What am I going to do?! What __**can**__ I do??_

I had no idea.

_**GAHHH! I HAVE TO THINK OF SOMETHING!!**_

My brain was in overdrive. Working furiously, searching for any tiny loophole I could exploit and keep this from turning into a massacre.

Of course, this meant I was breaking my sworn oath to Baki-sensei. It hurt my sense of honor badly, but this was what I felt was right. I would regret it for the rest of my life if I didn't try and stop this.

It was time for the last match-Gaara vs. Uchiha Sasuke-and Sasuke still hadn't come.

"Think he's going to show?" Kankuro inquired quietly.

"He's going to show," Gaara's low voice responded. "Definitely."

"I agree," I put in. "He didn't look like the type to bail." Temari turned to me, scowling. "Who asked _you_?" she snapped in an aggravated tone. I mentally sighed. She had been more on edge than usual since her humiliating win against Shikamaru. I should have known not to say anything. _You know it's bad when just the sound of your voice irritates her…_

I had a million different sarcastic responses, but I was trying to downplay my reputation as an idiot. "Nobody, Temari-san," I said, trying not to sound as weary as I felt. "Gomenasai."

She made a noise that could have been interpreted as a snort and turned away haughtily.

A whirlwind of leaves swirled around the arena. What the-??

The whirlwind dissipated. Standing there was Uchiha Sasuke and a tall Jonin with grey hair and a mask. "Sorry we're late," the masked Jonin said with a good-natured smile. "Your name?" the proctor asked with a smirk. He knew the answer.

"Uchiha Sasuke," he answered, dead serious.

_Hunh,_ I thought mildly. _He's interesting…._

As if he heard me thinking about him, he looked up at the balcony, frowning. I turned. He and Gaara were exchanging a long and in no way friendly stare.

_That's right._ I kept forgetting. _They're going to fight each other now…_

"Don't lose to a guy like that," Naruto warned Sasuke. (Don't ask me how or why he got down there.) I scowled. _Watch it, Naruto._

Something else caught my attention. I froze up.

There was an ANBU in the audience.

_Wh-what is a member of the ANBU Black Ops doing here? _I wondered apprehensively. _Did they somehow find out about the mission? Did those pinheaded guards actually listen to me and report something? No, that can't be it..a statement from a Genin isn't basis enough to send in ANBU. Then…?_

I had no answers, and more important things to worry about. So I pushed the animal-masked shinobi to the back of my mind and returned to stressing over the imminent chaos.

"Next match-Gaara vs. Uchiha Sasuke! Get down here, Gaara," called the examiner. I swallowed hard. _This is going to be….._

I looked nervously at Gaara.

_**Craaaaap!!**_ He had a calculating, bloodthirsty madness filling his eyes; if the Uchiha was smarter than a slug he would be running about now. But no such luck.

Kankuro was sweating. Even Temari looked nervous. I remembered her pleading and placating back in the Forest of Death. _She really fears her little brother,_ I thought, with a ping of pity for the redhead. _What good is anything when even your own family fears you?_

Which reminded me of Kankuro's nervousness and the Kazekage's murder attempts.

I felt my hands clench into fists, then soften back to normal. _He really doesn't have anyone, does he…?_

I promised myself silently that I would try to change people's opinions. I would stay with him.

"H-hey, Gaara," stammered Kankuro. "Don't forget to stick to the pla-" Temari slapped a hand over his mouth. "Don't talk to him right now," she murmured warningly. "He'll kill you."

I watched the sadistic insanity build up behind those eyes. I was forced to accept the possibility that she _might_ be right.

Gaara turned abruptly and started down the stairs. I straightened. "I'll..um, escort him," I told my other two teammates. Kankuro looked at me like I was nuts (which I probably was); Temari returned to her confident self and said nothing other than "It's your funeral."

I bowed quickly and hurried to follow Gaara.

**To Be Continued…**

**A/N: Jeez, another long fight scene already?! This makes, what, like….the fifth long fight scene?? Gaaahhh….-bangs head-**

**Ah well, no biggie. If it makes your reading experience any better, my cherished readers…**

**Reviews are much appreciated, but feel no obligation. Thanks for reading!! -SS**


	26. Chapter 26

Disclaimer: The next person to be 'borrowed' is….Matt, from Death Note!!

Matt: What the-

Me: If you don't mind, would you please do my disclaimer??

Matt: …Whatever. I'm gonna do it fast so I can get back to my game. This..weird person doesn't own Naruto. Just Shara.

Me:…If you weren't awesome, I would smack you upside the head for that comment…

Matt: Do I look like I care? Put me back in my own dimension, for-

Me: All right, all right. No need to get nasty…

**A/N: Note to self-don't 'borrow' Matt anymore. Jeez…Anyway, enjoy the chapter!!**

**Wanderer of the Sand**

**Chapter XXVI**

………………………………

The staircase took us through a grayish section of building lined with dripping pipes. I walked behind Gaara at first, then mentally scolded myself for being nervous and strode right up next to him.

He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye for a second.

_Hey, it's better than being ignored entirely…_

We walked in silence for a minute. Then-

"Why are you following me." When he asked a question, did it _ever_ come out sounding like a question? "I…I'm not sure," I answered. Hm, why _had_ I followed him? I changed the subject. "So, this Uchiha kid," I started. "Know anything about him?" "I don't need to," was the ominous reply. "I don't care how strong he is. I will kill him."

_Yikes._ "Gaara-sama," I said slowly, "why..why do you feel you need to kill?"

He stopped, pivoted, and looked me in the eye. Overwhelming bloodlust.

"Because," he said, his voice low and very dangerous. "It is the only reason I have to live. If I have no purpose, I shouldn't be alive. To kill-that is the purpose I came up with after.." His voice trailed off. I could guess the answer-_after Yashamaru died._

I put a hand on his shoulder. I didn't even really register what I was doing. I just had a deep and sudden need to show him that he was not completely alone.

He stared. I saw something fall into place. "You…?" _Huh?_

"Shara."

I wasn't a question. He remembered.

"Yo. Hold it."

We whipped sideways. My hand flew to where my katana's sheath should be, but it was only an empty reflex action.

Standing before us were two unfriendly-looking Grass ninja. They looked about Chunin rank, possibly Genin. Smirking. _This can not be good…_ "These Exams are great for betting on," one said. "Loads of important people come solely for that reason."

"Put simply," the other one said with a widening grin, "we just can't allow you to win this fight; get my drift, brat?"

I reached for a kunai, but felt something brush up against me. I looked up and proceeded to panic.

Sand was pouring out of the gourd. Gaara had the eyes and the expression of a serial killer about to claim his newest victim.

_He truly gets pleasure out of watching people die. Or is that just the Shukaku within him?_ There was no time to ponder. Sand shot for the Grass nin. I ran in front of him and tried to block some of the sand. Stupidly. "Gaara-sama, _stop_!!" I pleaded.

A snake of sand whiplashed me into the wall. I hit my head pretty hard.

The screams of the Grass nin were the last thing I heard before blackness consumed me.

…………………………………………..

I wasn't out long. I could sense a lot of chakra moving around when I came to; therefore, Gaara and Sasuke's fight was still going on.

The smell hit me like Taijutsu from the Kazekage himself. I looked around. Blood was everywhere. Sickening.

_No time to waste. _Theirs was the last fight. I had to think of some way to alert the Hokage and not the Kazekage, who was right next to him. I ran like the freakin' wind to the balcony-for no reason, really, other than it felt like Home Base. HQ. The place to return to.

I was completely out of breath by the time I got back up the stairs. Temari noticed me and scowled deeply. "Where _were_ you?!" she snapped angrily. "We thought Gaara killed you." _Not that you'd care if he did…_ "Temari-san," I said in a tone of forced pleasantry, "please stop treating your brother like a time bomb. He is just like you."

"No," she retorted. "No…he's not."

_Just like her father. Judge now, think never._ But I didn't have time for this. I had to think.

Kankuro swore. Loudly. Temari made a nervous little noise. I looked down at the arena. Gaara was surrounded entirely by a perfect sphere of sand. Sasuke was rushing at him with a fist. But just as he was about to land a hit, spikes jutted out of the sphere, forcing him to lose considerable force or be impaled. He froze, fist against the sand, eyes wide.

"...totally different from us!" I heard the loudmouth in a section of the audience. "He _lives_ to kill others! At this rate, _Sasuke will die_!!"

"There's no doubt about it. He's using _that_ jutsu." It was Temari, looking more scared than I had ever seen her. "This is bad. He's forgotten the plan entirely.."

An eyeball materialized itself out of sand outside the sphere.

The Sand kunoichi next to me continued to talk to herself nervously. "The Third Eye..? Damn it, Gaara.."

Sasuke attacked the sphere a few times as if though testing its toughness. Satisfied, he stood back and then _jumped_ back, flipping higher and higher until he was sideways, halfway up the side of the arena's tall walls.

"..won't be able to see the signal! And once he's done it there's nothing that can be done…damn!" Temari cursed again. "Does he _want_ to screw up the plan?!" "Hey, should we run away or something?" Kankuro suggested meekly.

Sasuke had made some hand signs, and now his hand and part of his arm were covered in blue lightning. The brightness from the lightning grew and grew; eventually he started running down the wall full speed ahead. The attack, whatever it was, left deep scars gouged in the wall. _That thing can do some serious damage…_

_Chichichichichi!!_

Huh? A sound like birds chirping. It seemed to be coming from the lightning…

He hit the sand sphere, punching a deep, wide dent in it. _Gaara, what are you doing??_

The Uchiha's arm had sunk halfway into the defensive sand, such was the force behind his attack. _Unbelievable._ "No way! Gaara's absolute defense has been broken?!" yelped Kankuro. "It can't be," whispered Temari.

A few nerve-wracking seconds passed. What came after hardly helped.

"_**Uwaaaaaaahhhhh**_!!"

An awful scream came bursting out of the sphere. Shivers raced up and down my body. I had never heard Gaara scream before, and I hoped that I never would again.

"Blood…_aghhh_!! My..my blood!!" He kept screeching. I was practically shaking where I stood, gripping the bar so tightly my fingers hurt.

A look of pain appeared on Sasuke's face, and he started to struggle, trying to withdraw his arm from the sand. The Uchiha yelled and the lightning started up again. It went straight inside the sphere.

"_**GYAAAHHHHH**_!!"

Another horrible scream. "Gaara," I croaked softly. He was wounded.

Sasuke finally managed to wrench his arm free, but something else came with it.

It was the arm of the Shukaku.

The claw threw the black-haired boy back, then dangled limply for a few moments. "Think he's in his 'complete' form yet?" Kankuro gulped. "I don't know!" was Temari's agitated reply. "He's hurt; this has never happened before!"

A small, round black hole formed on the sand sphere.

The look on Sasuke's face was one I wish to forget quickly.

The sphere cracked, then melted. Gaara stood there, clutching a bleeding shoulder.

And as if _that_ wasn't enough…

I happened to glimpse the audience and almost collapsed.

_No!! No, no no, no __**no**__!!_

They were asleep. Almost all of them. The ANBU I had seen earlier, along with a group of others, stood making a hand sign in the back of one of the rows.

I had gotten so caught up in the fight, I had forgotten the bigger problem. I could have screamed. _It's too late._

The invasion had begun.

……………………………………….

Two Sand Jonin appeared beside the Kazekage and dropped a bottle. Smoke went everywhere. The signal had been put out. _I can't stop it!_ I swore silently.

A tremendous crash drew my attention. I couldn't help yelling. A giant (and..I..mean…GIANT) three-headed snake (because ONE head isn't bad enough!) was breaking down Konoha's walls.

The fake 'ANBU' shot off in different directions.

The Kazekage grabbed the Hokage in a chokehold and held a kunai threateningly. The two were teleported to the top of the roof. Four ninja positioned themselves on the four corners of the roof-I could only assume that they were the 'Sound Four'-and erected a huge violet shield around them.

Temari and Kankuro jumped down into the arena beside Gaara; I followed suit. The redhead was on his knees, clutching his head and obviously in intense pain. I was irritatingly reminded of the pain in my own head, and tried to force it back down.

"What's wrong?!" exclaimed Kankuro. "_Fool_!" Baki-sensei, who had joined us, snapped furiously. "Trying to transform before the signal.."

"He's experiencing the side effects now," Temari stated unhappily, kneeling next to her quivering brother. "It's not possible to proceed with him like this." "_Then what are we supposed to do_?!" shouted Kankuro, frustrated. "Do it without Gaara?!"

Baki-sensei appeared to being going through an intensely painful inner struggle. "Abort..the mission," he choked out, as if those words were a terrible curse.

My eyes widened. After all of this…after all the agonizing…was it going to end this easily?

But since this _is_ my life, the answer to that question is: _Of course not!_

"You guys take Gaara and retreat," Baki-sensei continued with a dazed look on his face. After all, Gaara had been his secret weapon. His last resort.

Kankuro swore. "What about _you_?!" yelled Temari.

"I'll join the battle. _Go_!"

"Y-yeah…"

The Sand Siblings jumped off. "Good luck, Sensei," I said before following.

_What's going to happen now?!_

**To Be Continued….**

**A/N: I have but one thing to say…Shara does not do snakes. XD**


	27. Chapter 27

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto! Just my OC, Shara!

**A/N: Thank you so, so much, those of you who reviewed the last chapter. I was in a very unhappy mood at the time, and those reviews really cheered me up. DOMO ARIGATO!!**

**Wanderer of the Sand**

**Chapter XXVII**

…………………………………**.**

We jumped through the trees, Kankuro supporting Gaara.

It took less than five minutes for us to be stopped in our tracks by none other than Uchiha Sasuke.

Overconfident smirk in place, he said "You can't escape."

_Do you want to bet, you cocky little brat?!_ I barely refrained from snapping it aloud.

Kankuro unhooked Karasu. "You guys go ahead. I'll take care of this."

"I'll-um, I'll take Gaara-sama," I offered quietly.

He wasn't very heavy. That wasn't the problem.

The 'problem' was that…hn, suffice to say he was a distraction. I felt myself turning a violent shade of scarlet after a minute, and I almost ran into multiple trees.

"S-Shara..Put me down.."

I stopped short on a thick branch. "You're awake?" I asked dumbly. No _kidding_ he was awake..

I let him go carefully. He almost immediately sank to his knees, grabbing his head and letting out a strangled cry. I bit my lip. I hated seeing him in so much pain, but what could I do?

Suddenly he whipped his head to his sister. "Temari! _Scram_!" he yelled.

"_What_?!"

He hit her away. She flew into another tree. "Just get lost! Mind your own business!" he shouted. I stayed very, very still. His sister was important, and maybe he hadn't yet gotten used to having me around. He seemed to have forgotten I was there.

He straightened and glared. Following his gaze I saw-

"_Uchiha_?!" I yelped in disbelief. _There's no way he could finish Kankuro that fast…_

"I don't know the motives of your village," Sasuke said, "but I will stop you."

"Do you see us doing any fighting?" I snapped impatiently. "Leave us alone!"

He just smirked.

I reached for a kunai, a shuriken-anything I could use to get rid of that smirk-but it vanished on its own. He addressed Gaara. "I want to see your true face."

The redhead's skin was beginning to bear an uncanny resemblance to the Shukaku's. "You are like me," he growled. "Only after I kill you..can I feel _alive_!" _Oh, crap_. I had a bad feeling about this. Sasuke was good, but he couldn't handle the Shukaku.

Gaara fell to the branch, yelling and yelling in pain.

After a minute, his whole arm and half his face had become that of the Sand Demon.

The demon's bloodthirsty yellow eye stared Sasuke down.

And then Gaara launched at him.

The Uchiha barely got out of the way. The claw of the demon caused incredible carnage to the surrounding trees. _Shoot!_ I jumped after him, struggling to think up some sort of plan. "Do you fear me, Uchiha Sasuke?!" Gaara roared. "_Do you fear my existence_?!"

Sasuke pounced from behind a tree, the blue lightning running up and down his arm again. He and Gaara rushed at each other, and Sasuke's attack split the Shukaku's arm and claw right down the middle, almost severing it entirely. Gaara roared in pain.

_This can't end well. I have to do something! _

_But..what..?_

Gaara backed off, and started to laugh uproariously. "I see! Killing someone strong enough to hurt me will give me a greater reason for existence!" he cackled. As he laughed madly, sand poured out of his gourd and formed the huge tail of the Shukaku.

…………………………………………..

Another few minutes passed while I stood there uselessly. Blows were traded back and forth, but right now the situation was-

Sasuke had suddenly been half-covered by an odd black mark.

He was lying on a branch, unmoving.

And Gaara was about to pounce.

_**Crap!**_

I ran in front of Sasuke-go on, say it: I'm a complete idiot.

If I wanted the slightest chance of survival, I needed some sort of boost. Knowing it was a _bad_ idea, I made the hand signs for Twelve Fists (ouch-my arm was still hurting..). I remembered what the medic-nin had said about not getting into fights for a few days. My chakra was still very, very low from my fight with Gaara, so this was certainly _not_ smart.

But nobody had ever accused me of being smart before, and this would be one heck of a time to get into the habit.

I only had time to activate the First State, anyway. Gaara launched himself toward us, and I attacked with 12 blows-which really wasn't much, for this technique-putting all my strength into them. The blows hit him in the head, throwing him backwards.

But I was in deep trouble now. 12 blows equaled 12 percent of my chakra, which was already in short supply, so I lost most of my strength. And to top off the disaster, my head was back to the breaking point.

But the rest in ancient history.

…………………………………………..

Explaining the exact circumstances and everything would take a very long time, so I'll summarize.

Naruto and Sakura arrived on the scene pretty quickly, luckily. Naruto suggested retreat-the smartest thing I'd ever heard him say-but Gaara went for Sasuke again. I was beyond movement right then. Sakura jumped in front of the young Uchiha with a kunai held at the ready.

Gaara seemed to experience a twinge of pain at the sight of the pink-haired kunoichi, and he went for her instead, using the Shukaku claw to pin her to another tree. She was knocked out by the force.

Temari jumped in and got the incapacitated Sasuke out of the way of immediate harm.

It got to the point where only Gaara's lower legs were free from the transformation. I noticed that the 'Love' kanji still remained. Naruto, being _Naruto_, challenged him. He was getting beaten badly, but eventually released a hundred Shadow Clones of himself and attacked, disfiguring the Shukaku's body horribly.

But the Sand Demon fought back, growing until it reached its full height-read: gigantic. Taller than the forest. And fully transformed.

I was going from tree to tree trying to get high enough to see what was going on. This was beyond me now. As much as I loathed it, I was of no help.

And then…well, this is where it gets weird.

A giant frog appeared.

No, really.

The frog was as big as the Shukaku. Naruto was on its head. _No way_, I thought. _No __**way**__ can he use the Summoning Jutsu to call something this big!_

The frog pulled out a sword and charged, but the demon batted it away like an irksome fly. And then Gaara's body, excluding legs, protruded from the Shukaku's head.

_Wait-maybe I __**can**__ do something, if he's emerging…_

As I got closer, I noticed that his eyes were white. Pupil-less.

"Now I'll show you the true powers of the Sand Demon," he intoned ominously.

I swore and moved faster. _Closer..closer…_

I got close enough to jump on the demon's head, and did so.

Just as Gaara made a hand sign and said, "_Spell of fake sleep_!"

_Of fake…No!!_

I ran for him, but it was too late. His body slumped into unconsciousness.

The Shukaku had total control.

**To Be Continued…**


	28. Chapter 28

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto; just Shara.

**Wanderer of the Sand**

**Chapter XXVIII**

…………………………………

"Hahahahaha!! I'm finally out!!" cackled the demon. "And look, there's people to kill already!"

Demon and frog attacked each other over and over; I clung to the thing's head for dear sweet life.

And then the frog turned into a huge, vicious fox. It almost looked like another demon. I gulped. _This_ _could get very ugly…_

It did. The fox bolted forward and bit the Shukaku's neck hard. I was almost thrown off by the demon's recoil, then took advantage of his temporary stillness and ran at Gaara again. If I could wake him up, this might stop.

I shook him as hard I could. No luck. Hating myself, I reared back and punched him as hard as I could.

He twitched, but didn't open his eyes.

Naruto joined the game, jumping from the frog-fox's head to the demon's while they were still at close quarters. He punched Gaara with a surprising amount of force. "You-_jerk_!" he yelled.

"Watch it!" I snapped. "It's not like he _wanted_ this to happen, so shut your mouth for once!"

I had no excuse for being so nasty. I would apologize later.

Blood dripped from Gaara's mouth after the blow. His eyes opened. Naruto charged, but the demon's body turned to sand where he stood, trapping him while Gaara sent even _more_ sand at him in attack.

But the giant frog-who had turned back into a frog while we weren't paying attention-wrapped his large tongue around Naruto for protection, which had to hurt.

Something happened inside the tongue cylinder, which I couldn't see but knew it couldn't be good. "You will be killed by me," Gaara stated coldly. "My existence will continue."

"You don't need to kill people to live!" I yelled. My mouth had taken on a life of its own. "That's _not_ your only reason for existing! You weren't born solely for that!" I kept babbling senselessly. "You aren't alone. You have people who care about you."

He took a moment to glare at me. "Oh, really. Give me one good example of someone who cares and doesn't fear."

_Talk about being put on the spot._ "Uh-um, Temari-san, Kankuro-san…uh.." "No good," he said emotionlessly. "You know as well as I do that they're scared stiff by the very thought of me. Do you see my point now?"

I couldn't say it. I _couldn't_.

But….If I didn't, he would continue to live under the delusion that he was by himself. Disliked, rejected, hated and feared.

I closed my eyes and opened them again.

"Me," I said.

There was no time for a reaction. Maybe he didn't even hear me. Naruto had somehow mustered up the chakra to shatter the sand around him. I didn't even know sand _could_ shatter.

He charged again. Gaara scowled. "D-_**Die**_!" he shouted. Was it my imagination, or did his voice wobble just a bit?

"You-_**jerk**_!!" Naruto yelled. He leapt forward and head-butted Gaara.

…_Well…__**that**__ was unexpected…._

Blood poured from both of their foreheads.

And the Shukaku shattered.

We all fell. It was a long way to the ground.

………………………………..

But luckily, we _were_ above a forest. We all managed to land on separate trees. The giant frog had disappeared.

"This'll be the last hit," Naruto stated.

This was a battle between the two of them; I didn't know why. I felt like I was missing something big.

I was very much out of the loop, and most likely out of my league. Giant frogs and sand demons..things I couldn't compete with. I had only myself.

So I did what I felt was right. I didn't interfere.

They launched at each other, fists at the ready.

In midair, they collided. Naruto's fist drove into Gaara's head, and they both returned to the long fall toward ground.

I was sure that neither would die from this height. I followed them down.

They landed a few feet apart on the forest floor. They were both spent. I'd be impressed if they could move at all.

Naruto started to drag himself toward Gaara, using his chin. He inched along like a little worm. _Of course._

Gaara looked a little afraid. "I will not cease to exist!" he cried out. "I won't disappear!"

When Naruto got close enough, he said something to Gaara. I couldn't tell what it was at the time.

Sasuke landed next to Naruto and informed him that the sand holding back Sakura had dissipated. It was over.

I moved toward the redhead. At the same time, Temari and Kankuro dropped out of nowhere and took a defensive stance in front of their brother.

"Don't..don't bother…" Gaara murmured. "I'm finished."

They looked shocked that he was so exhausted. I remembered that he'd never been hurt this badly before. "Alright…" Kankuro supported Gaara, and they took off into the trees.

I paused for a second, then turned to the two young shinobi and bowed. "Sorry…and thanks."

And I hurried to catch up to my teammates.

…………………………………………

Things happened pretty quickly after that.

When we returned to Konoha, we found the village a mess. Very, very wrecked. I winced.

But the fighting had ended with the death of the Hokage, and also the retreat of Orochimaru.

The explanation was this: Orochimaru had killed the Kazekage while the latter was on the way to the Chunin Exams. The snake lord had taken his place, successfully faking everyone out. But during his battle with the Hokage, the old man used a special jutsu that rendered both of Orochimaru's arms forever useless. At the cost of his own life.

Sunagakure declared a complete surrender to Konohagakure, naturally. Only a moron would keep fighting after all of this. Konoha accepted the surrender gracefully; they wanted to focus on rebuilding their village.

We left the Village Hidden in the Leaves as quickly as possible. I somehow made time on our last day there to seek out Tenten. It was only right; she was the first friend I had made in this village…in fact, she was my first friend ever, excluding Gaara.

She was helping to rebuild a weapons shop. _How fitting._ I asked if I could talk to her for a moment. We walked a short distance away from the reconstruction site.

"We-my team and I-are returning to Suna," I explained awkwardly. "So..um…"

She pounced and hugged me. My eyes got huge. I had never been hugged before. _Hn…this is…_

_nice…_

I smiled and sort of hugged her back. _Crap._ My eyes were watering.

We let go. I was biting back tears, and it's probably a safe assumption that she was too. "Um-th-thank you," I said in a wobbling voice. "For e-everything."

She nodded. "Write, okay?" I nodded too. We waved and parted.

The walk back to the gates took about three minutes. That was plenty of time to cry.

……………………………………

_So what now?_

I must have asked myself that question a thousand times during the journey.

The Kazekage was dead. Who would be the new one?

Where was I going to go? I was still a rogue ninja, after all.

But the Kazekage was dead. _That doesn't mean you can just start with a clean slate!_

Did it all depend on who was chosen to be the Fifth Kazekage? _Maybe…_

Or…my reputation was set in stone. Something I could never escape.

When we reached the gates of Sunagakure, I pulled Baki-sensei aside and asked him the burning, somewhat childish question. "What's…what's going to happen to me, Sensei?"

He looked me in the eye. "That will be for the next Kazekage to decide, Shara. Until a new leader is chosen for Suna, you can stay in the village with your parents."

I almost fell over.

My _parents._

_Dear God, I forgot I'd have to face them sooner or later… _

But it was better than sleeping outside, I suppose. Barely.

I nodded, and followed Baki-sensei and my teammates into Sand Village to await my fate.

**To Be Continued…..**

**A/N: May I ask you something? I recently got a review suggesting that I fill less chapter space with stuff that happened in the show. If you can be bothered, I would very much value your opinion-do I write the fight scenes and such in too much detail? Would you rather I cut straight to the point?**

**(Thank you Mazmysta; this is not considered flaming, it is constructive criticism. :))**

**Arigato for reading! I hope you enjoyed! –SS**


	29. Chapter 29: Time

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto; only Shara!

**A/N: Hn, odd…this is the first chapter that actually has a name. And it very well may be the last. XD**

**Thanks all of you who took the time to weigh in last chapter! I truly appreciate it!! **

**This chapter is dedicated to jennfire; thanks for Alerting!!**

**Well, I think that's it…enjoy the chapter! :) -SS**

**Wanderer of the Sand**

**Chapter XXIX-Time **

……………………………………………

Time passed quicker than I would have imagined.

I was dumped off at my parent's house. The meeting between us was more than a little awkward, as I'm sure you can imagine.

"Hello, Shara," my mother greeted me stiffly.

I bowed. "Hello, Mother."

"…"

"…"

_Well, this is fun._

Father was 'out.' My first thought was that after catching wind of his disgraced daughter's return, he'd turned tail and run like heck. But according to my mother, he was supervising the building of a new market. To this day I have my doubts about that explanation.

When he finally _did_ come home, I received the biggest show of attention from him that I'd ever gotten.

He passed out.

Yes, you read that right.

After waking up, he sat in a chair and stared at me silently for the better part of an hour. And then got up abruptly and disappeared, not to be seen again until the next afternoon. Typical Father.

In the end we settled for what worked for the first near-decade of my life: They ignored me, and I didn't expect anything from them. Simple, yet drastically effective on the awkwardness.

What can I say; some just don't have a good relationship with their parents.

The funeral for the Kazekage was held the day after we returned. Everyone wore black, stood around and looked mournful for an hour and a half. He was never exactly a popular leader; there weren't many tears from the spectators.

I wandered the streets aimlessly and often, swimming through a gray sea of memories. I think I saw the boy who had called Gaara a monster all those years ago; though obviously he was a lot older now. I gave him the best death glare I could muster and watched him flinch, with a sense of grim satisfaction.

I wrote to Tenten a few times, mainly because I had nobody here in Suna. I kept up my training with Baki-sensei, but I didn't see the Sand Siblings much. I ran into Temari once (literally), apologized, and didn't get one snarky comment in response. I was slowly working my way into her good graces. Or at least, not-bad graces.

Close to a month after the failure of _Operation: Destroy Konoha_, the Sand Siblings were deployed on an important mission. Apparently Orochimaru had sent the Sound Four to Konoha to make Sasuke join them, and Sasuke had gone with them. Willingly. The Leaf Village had sent a small group of Genin (with one Chunin-turns out Nara Shikamaru was the only one to make Chunin) to retrieve the Uchiha. Since Suna owed Konoha a huge debt after what had happened, Temari, Gaara and Kankuro were sent to help them out.

I wanted to go on this mission. I really did. I wanted to help.

But I was shot down by the elders. Their excuse was that I was not an official Suna shinobi, and therefore couldn't be sent on Suna missions. That was probably part of it, but another thing was, they didn't trust me. (Not that I blamed them.) They wanted to keep an eye on me.

So I watched the Sand Siblings leave, furious and worried. If Orochimaru was one of the three Sannin, and the Sound Four were his most trusted ninja, wasn't it safe to say that they were nearly as powerful as the snake lord?

After a few days they returned, bearing good and bad news. The good news was that the three of them and the Konoha shinobi had made it out alive. The Sound Four were dead.

But the bad news was that Uchiha Sasuke had gone over to Orochimaru.

Naruto had fought him, tried to stop him, but failed. Now he and all of the Genin that had been on the mission were being treated for the awful wounds they had sustained. I felt somewhat numb. That smirking, overconfident kid had joined the evil snake?

………………………………….

More time went by.

I _finally_ recovered fully from all the damage I had taken in Leaf.

I heard that Gaara had broken away from his team and joined the regular troops.

On November 4th, I observed my 14th birthday.

After a few more months, Suna established a Ninja Academy for training new Genin, based on the one in Konoha. Gaara, Temari and Kankuro were the instructors.

So was I.

It was a huge shock, being asked to teach Genin when I-well, I wasn't even a Genin myself, seeing as I had never technically graduated. It was a giant responsibility, and I took it gladly and nervously.

On the first day of class, the outside space we had dubbed The Academy was filled with 11- and 12-year-olds, ready for official training. We had laid out tables covered in a variety of weapons. _Tenten would feel right at home here_, I thought wryly.

Temari instructed the Genin to choose a weapon. A shy-looking girl with onyx eyes and brown hair raised her hand timidly, asking if she _had_ to choose one.

I raised my eyebrows.

"It's just…if you use a weapon, you'll hurt the other person," she continued nervously. "You might even kill them!"

Kankuro warned the girl that if she went onto a battlefield with that kind of attitude, she'd get herself killed. The girl clammed up instantaneously. "Now," Temari continued blithely, "all of you, choose a teacher. Go on."

There was a lot of whispering going on. I happened to overhear one of the boys saying, "I heard that Gaara over there is a monster. If you make him angry, he'll kill you! _I'm_ certainly not going to him." I scowled fiercely. "Listen, you little-"

I stopped myself. Nothing good would come of yelling at the stupid brat.

Gaara was standing silently, eyes closed, arms crossed. I had to admit, it could be a little intimidating. Waves of kids hurried to Temari and Kankuro. As the vessel of the Sand Demon, I could see how those (moronic) kids might be prejudiced. I had no students either-probably because of my bad reputation.

The shy, onyx-eyed girl was still standing there nervously. Next to her was a pale, grinning boy with short black hair and light brown eyes. He radiated confidence.

After a minute or so the girl walked up to Gaara. I beamed. _Gaara has a student,_ I thought. _Someone who'll trust him. I'm sure he'll make a great teacher…_

I blinked. The black-haired boy was standing in front of me, pencil-straight. His face burst into a huge grin, and his eyes squeezed shut. _…Odd…_

"Hi!" he chirped brightly. I blinked a few more times. _Oh. He wants to be my student..?_

"Hello," I replied uncertainly. "I'm Shara. Your name is..?"

"Oh," he said with a sheepish grin. "Right. I'm Ikaru! Nice to meet you, Shara-sama."

I smiled. _"-sama", huh? Polite kid…_ "Nice to meet you too, Ikaru-kun. So..go ahead and pick a weapon. Choose carefully; your weapon is your partner in battle."

He nodded enthusiastically and started examining the table. Gaara was demonstrating how to use a _jouhyou_ for the onyx-eyed girl.

"Hmm, I think I'll choose this one. It's interesting, y'know?"

I turned to my new student and raised an eyebrow again. His weapon of choice was none other than a silver-black katana.

"That's your weapon?" "Yeah. It just feels right, y'know?"

I smiled. "Good choice. Now you've got to learn to use it properly. Let me show you the basics.."

………………………………………

I enjoyed my student. A lot.

Ikaru was an interesting person to have around. He was extraordinarily persistent, and when he really wanted to, he could focus impenetrably.

He was funny, and more than a little bit hyper. He often ended his sentences with "y'know?". Simply put, it was sort of like having a second Naruto running around.

The boy was also very devoted to Matsuri, Gaara's timid student. The girl was absolutely infatuated with Gaara, and I was thrilled to see that there was someone who understood him.

Ikaru learned use of the katana rapidly, mastering the basics in an almost unheard-of amount of time. But he sometimes got impatient with the more complex techniques and felt the need to goof off, and once that happened it was difficult to get the 11-year-old back on track.

Sometimes he would slip away while I was demonstrating a certain technique, and play a practical joke of some kind on anybody he could get to. This behavior was quickly losing me points with Temari and Kankuro, who didn't exactly welcome distractions. Gaara hadn't been hit by Suna's resident 'Serial Joker' yet, thank Kami; maybe it had something to do with the fact that he was Matsuri's sensei.

_Gaara, a sensei…who would have thought?_

…………………………………………..

Yet more passing of time.

I had resided in Suna for almost a year straight now, and was still not considered a Sand shinobi. I had managed to shrug it off; Ikaru certainly kept me busy enough to half-forget about it.

It came as a huge shock when I was informed of Gaara's ascension to the position of Kazekage.

We hadn't _really_ spoken since the end of the Chunin Exams; I had suffered through my crush from a distance. So I had had no warning.

I was quietly ecstatic for him. He was going to become something very precious to the people of Sunagakure. He would be a good leader-almost definitely better than his father had been.

This also meant that my fate was to be decided.

I had essentially forgotten about the Day of Reckoning that had been moving closer ever since I had set foot in Sand Village again. And if Gaara was to make the right decision, I wanted him to know the truth. Even if telling it to him meant getting evicted again.

I trekked to the Kazekage's building. "I'd like to speak with Gaa-with the Kazekage-sama," I told the guards. I was allowed in. _Deja'vu much?_

Gaara was sitting at his desk, staring at his surroundings as if he couldn't quite believe he had done it.

I shut the door behind me and bowed, feeling awkward. "Kazekage-sama," I greeted him carefully. It felt so formal and stiff and _wrong_. He looked faintly startled at being addressed such, then nodded.

I sat and fidgeted nervously. My nerves were fraying at an alarming rate.

"Um…since..since you're the one who decides if I stay or not..well, there's something I need to clear up."

I took a deep breath and told him everything about my eviction from Sand Village.

…………………………………………..

"…and, well…that's what happened," I finished lamely.

"…."

"I..will _not_ apologize," I said. "I stand by my belief that what I did was right. For me. Stupid, but right. It's all spelled out now-I attacked your father with the full intent of injuring or even killing him. I refuse to apologize for that, because…"

I met his turquoise gaze. "…Never mind. I just wanted to clear that up."

"……."

I stood, trying to maintain a defiant façade while inwardly shaking. _What was __**that**__!?_ I screeched silently. _Why did you go on the defensive?! Brilliant, Shara-baka. He will __**never**__ let you stay, and all the better for Suna! __**You idiot!**_

I forced the voice out of my head, then went to sweat out the stress.

……………………………………………..

After a vigorous training routine, I returned home. Mother and Father weren't in, so I had the house to myself. _Joy…_

I went up to my room, fully prepared to flop on the bed and perhaps die if I was lucky.

I _wasn't_ prepared for what I saw.

There on the bed was a piece of cloth, folded neatly around something skinny and rectangular. I stepped forward, perplexed, and unfolded the cloth.

And proceeded to scream. Loudly.

It was a Sunagakure forehead protector.

I was in hysterics. Half-screaming, half-sobbing, ecstatic and in shock. _This means.._

I was a shinobi. _I was a Suna shinobi._

_Finally, finally, __**finally**__!! _I belongedsomewhere. I had allegiance to a village. I was no longer a rogue ninja, wandering without home or purpose. I was a ninja, loyal to her village.

To her home.

I tied the forehead protector around my head, both enthusiastically and gingerly. I didn't want to scuff it or damage it in any way.

_I am a shinobi!_

Beaming, I happened to notice a small note attached to the cloth. I picked it up. In small, neat black handwriting it said-

_Thank you._

"…"

…I loved him. I really, truly did.

**To Be Continued….**

**A/N: So Shara is no longer a wanderer. With that milestone in mind, I announce the end of Part One of WOTS. Part Two will be considerably shorter…I think…-.-; **

**Thank you all so very much! In two days or so, Part 2 begins!**

**I hope you enjoyed. :) Thanks again. **

**-SkywardShadow**


	30. Chapter 30

Disclaimer: To celebrate the beginning of Part II, we have…_Ikaru_!!

Ikaru: Mosi mosi everyone!! 

Me: Fire away, Ikaru-chan.

Ikaru: Right. SkywardShadow-sama owns Shara-sama, but not anybody else in Naruto. Those people belong to Masashi Kishimoto-sama, y'know?

Me: You forgot something…

Ikaru: Oh, riiight. Skyward also owns me… -grumblegrumble-

Me: Which you would do well to remember, kid! XD

**A/N: Chapter 30!! **_**And**_** Part II!! DOMO ARIGATO for putting up with me thus far, my wonderful glorious readers!! –passes out cookies- ENJOY!!**

**P.S. This chapter is dedicated to Ocean Wave Kira; thanks for Alerting!!**

…**Actually, this one's for all of you who've taken the time to read this. Thanks a load.**

**Wanderer of the Sand**

**Chapter XXX**

…………………………………………**.**

A year had passed since the amazing day I became an official shinobi at last.

Things had happened. I was technically still a member of Team Baki, though the team just didn't feel the same without Gaara.

Aforementioned redhead had declared myself, Temari and Kankuro Jonin in January. I had been in a state of shock after the announcement. _Jonin?!_ Temari and Kankuro I could see, but _me?_ He had to be kidding.

But of course, Gaara does not kid. I asked him about his decision; his answer was concise and vague. He simply felt that I "deserved the rank."

We-my team and I-had gone on plenty of missions. A lot of B-ranked; a few A-ranked. Our successes outnumbered our failures (but I am forbidden to _ever_ mention the exact statistics…Temari would slaughter me).

Matsuri had made Chunin seven or so months ago; Gaara had taught her well. The girl followed him every chance she got.

Ikaru, on the other hand…I had held him back from the most recent Chunin Exams, remembering how hard it had been and not sure that he was quite ready. Besides which, a week before the Exams he came down with an illness that refused to go away. He had actually gone so far as to ask all the inhabitants of Suna to sign a petition saying he should be allowed to go.

When that didn't work, he had gone to the Kazekage and asked for permission (you can imagine how happy I was with _that_ development).

And when that too failed, he tried to slip out of the village and get to the Exams himself. The guards caught him, obviously, and returned him to his sensei, aka me.

And let's just say it was _not_ a fun week for Ikaru.

The next Exams were coming up soon, though, and Sand Village was hosting, so Ikaru was training extra hard. He was determined to make Chunin this time; I admired his commitment.

Over the course of a few unexciting months I developed a new technique, which I planned to start teaching my student at some point. It was a Fire Style technique I dubbed Phoenix Rain. There really wasn't much to it; you just had to focus and neatly divide your chakra into multiple sphere-ish thingys, fire it at your opponent and presto-instant barbeque.

Simple, yet effective-easy to learn, yet difficult to _master_. I liked that. Another one of Baki-sensei's lessons was "Through training, comes mastery. Through mastery, comes victory."

Things went on like that for a long time. Just when I felt I was truly settling into life in the Sand, well…

Something happened.

Something very big, and very, very bad.

……………………………………….

It was business as usual. I was attempting to teach Ikaru the beginning steps of Phoenix Rain, and he was making a valiant effort to concentrate-even though we had been at it for nearly 24 hours straight and his attention span was shot.

A shadow passed over our little training ground. We looked up and saw a huge white-ish bird flying past. I didn't think anything of it, and returned to the immediate issue.

"So your chakra should now-Ikaru-kun, are you listening…? Ikaru? _Ikaru_..!" He looked at me with an odd expression on his face. "Shara-sama…what type of bird was that, a second ago?" I racked my brain. "Hn…I think it was a Tassled Claydove….or something like that. Why?"

He shook his head nervously. "Claydoves are pure white, remember? That one was a reddish-brownish-whiteish sort of color, y'know?"

"Well, maybe it was a Sunhawk. They aren't _unheard_ of…" "But Sunhawks are in hibernation this time of year. And the color's wrong for that too, y'know?" He was pale now. I frowned. "Look, I'm not exactly an expert on birds. I'm sure there's a…" My voice trailed off. I wasn't an expert on _all_ birds, but as a Suna Jonin I was required to know at least the birds found in the desert.

That huge bird had matched none of the descriptions.

An ominous lump settled in my stomach. "Stay here, Ikaru-kun. Practice with your katana or something. I should be back shortly." I ran toward the center of the village, trying to tell myself that such worry was ridiculous. Birds were birds. What did I think this was, a bomb disguised as a bird? _Yeah, right. You're overreacting, Shara._

But for once, I wasn't. As much as I wished I was.

A wave of sand bigger than anything I'd ever seen had shot up from the desert floor and was now soaring towards the odd bird, which I now noticed had a person on it. If I squinted, I could make out long blond hair and a bit of black cloak.

Balanced on platforms of sand in front of the deadly wave was Gaara, arms outstretched, a strong general urging his troops forward.

A giant sand claw-one that looked remarkably like the Shukaku's-burst from the wave and chased after the bird and its rider. Two other sand claws morphed from the wave and joined the spectacular midair fight.

I started running to find Baki-sensei. Or _somebody_ who could tell me what was going on.

_**BOOM!**_

_**BOOM!**_

_**BOOM!**_

I jerked to a stop, looking up in dread.

The bird-rider had thrown bombs of some sort at Gaara, who had retreated into his protective sand sphere-and sent after the attacker and his bird the most gigantic Sand Coffin ever assembled.

The crushing sand closed in around the intruder, but I saw a figure fly from out of the coffin. The bird had been crushed, though its rider escaped temporarily. A snake of sand broke off of Gaara's defensive sphere and followed the falling figure. It constricted around his arm, spurting blood.

The intruder dropped something, and in a puff of smoke he was riding another giant bird; this one resembled a clay-colored owl.

I picked up speed, seeing Baki-sensei and Kankuro. "What-the _hell_-is going on here?!" I panted furiously.

Baki-sensei scowled fiercely; I felt myself flinch. "Watch your mouth." "G-gomen, Sensei." "Hmph. Fine. That intruder is a member of the Akatsuki; I needn't say more." He yelled for more troops to back up "Lord Kazekage."

I swallowed nervously. The Akatsuki were the most shadowy and powerful ninja organization in the known world, and they always meant trouble. If I remembered right, one of their more prominent members was an older teenager named Uchiha Itachi. _Hn.._

But none of that was relevant right now. My priority was to help Gaara-the Kazekage.

"…Kankuro," Baki-sensei said in a low voice. I stiffened, unable to resist eavesdropping. "Yes, sir?" was the unusually polite reply.

"…We must prepare for the possibility of Gaara going feral," Baki-sensei said slowly. "We must have an emergency plan in case the Shukaku emerges."

I bit my lip hard. _Keep your mouth shut…keep your mouth shut…_

"Come on, no way," Kankuro responded firmly. "Gaara would never hurt any of the villagers."

I felt a deep twinge of respect for Kankuro then.

_sweeeeeEEEE__**EEEEE**__!!_

A high-pitched whistling sound, coming closer and closer from above. My eyes widened, and I looked up with an increasing feeling of foreboding.

A.._thing_ was falling right towards us. The Akatsuki member had dropped it. Even from a distance I could sense a staggering amount of chakra built up inside that thing. _An explosive!_

"Move!!" I screamed, but I knew it was useless. The bomb was too close, and falling too fast. I waved away the sick, heavy feeling in my stomach and closed twitching eyes, preparing myself for the inevitable and imminent end.

An earsplitting crash/boom sound. A shockwave that rocked the Village hidden in the Sand.

I braced myself. _Here it comes…_

Nothing.

_Huh?_

I opened my eyes apprehensively-and almost choked.

A sheet of sand. A huge, lumpy shield covering the entire village.

_But…_

Controlling and spreading an amount of sand this massive had to take a chunk out of Gaara's chakra. He was probably exhausted by now.

I started climbing to the roof of a nearby building (some things never change), then jumped nervously onto the sand shield. If there was any way I could help, I had to.

I could see Gaara; he was relatively close. He was sweating and out of breath. No wonder-he was trying to maintain a sand sphere, sand attacks, defense, offence, a humongous sand sheet, and the ability to stay alert and fight all at the same time.

The blond man (at least, I'm pretty sure it was a man) grinned wickedly. I glanced sideways and noticed a small, odd-looking claylike bird drifting into the gaping hole in the redhead's sphere.

_Another explosive?!_

"Gaara!! _Watch it_!" I yelled. But, typically, the warning was a second too late.

The last _**BOOM**_ echoed with an awful air of finality.

……………………………………………..

But as much as it seemed so, the fight wasn't over there.

When the smoke cleared, the sand sphere was still intact. Gaara had barely managed to seal the gap before getting hit by the bomb. Aside from a large black mark on its face, his ultimate defense was unscathed.

But the blond man smirked. Confidently. And made a hand sign that spelled doom.

There was no conspicuous 'boom' this time. But some tiny explosive had wormed its way _inside_ his defense.

The sand sphere shuddered violently.

So did my insides. _What's happening?!_

The sand around Suna's young Kazekage melted away, sifting down to the village below. Which, of course, meant…

_**Craaaaappp!!**_

The sand beneath me, keeping me roughly 100 feet in the air, crumbled away.

I was free-falling, fighting not to yell as the harsh wind forced tears from my eyes. _Unbelievable. After everything-I am actually going to die here!!_

_Gaara…what's happening to you?_

_You had better not be..dead…_

"Oof!"

_Huh?_

Someone had caught me.

Or, more accurately, someone had made a courageous_ attempt_ to catch me.

Aforementioned someone was far too small to actually stop me, but he did slow my fall significantly enough to prevent my death.

We both hit the ground pretty hard, but thankfully without breaking anything. We were just bruised. _Really, really, __**really **__bruised…_

Despite my growing worry over what had happened to Gaara, I took a second to grin wearily.

"Thanks, Ikaru-kun."

_Now back to the mess that is reality._

**To Be Continued….**


	31. Chapter 31

Disclaimer: -snicker-Okay, I'm really asking for it now…I've borrowed Kyo Sohma from Fruits Basket!!

Kyo: WHAT THE HELL?!

Me: Watch your language! Sorry, everyone…

Kyo: WHAT THE-

Me: Just do my disclaimer and I'll put you back in your own manga!

Kyo: FORGET IT!! 

Me: Oh, come on!

Kyo: NO!! I DON'T MAKE DEALS WITH THE DEVIL!!

Me:…I resent that. And could you please quit talking in all capitals; it's very hard on the eyes..

Kyo: DO I LOOK LIKE I CARE?!

Me:…You're hopeless. Fine, I'll just keep you here until you break. –evil grin-

Kyo: WHAAAATTTT?!

Me: I don't own Naruto; just Shara and Ikaru.

**Wanderer of the Sand**

**Chapter XXXI**

………………………………………**.**

By the time I'd gotten my bearings, the sky was empty.

The Akatsuki man, the giant bird, and Gaara were gone.

Baki-sensei informed me that the Kazekage had been taken alive. _So Gaara was the target all along,_ I thought grimly. _But why?_

Kankuro ran, following the bird. I joined him, ignoring Baki-sensei's yells for both of us to come back.

The bird landed on a cliff right outside the village. While following, we discovered a wide spread of dead Suna Jonin's bodies.

_Kami_, I thought in horror. _They're powerful enough to take out the entire guard…_

Kankuro was livid.

As the Akatsuki's bird came into view-along with the rider and another figure wearing the black cloak with red clouds-Kankuro briefed me on our plan of attack.

"Gaara is wrapped up in that bird's tail," he said. "I'll attack the rider. You get Gaara. He's..he looked pretty hurt, so you'll probably have to carry him. Afterwards, we get back to the village-we've got a better chance on our own turf. Got it?" I nodded.

But inside I felt little optimism. _These two are members of the most feared ninja organization in the world, _I worried. _One was strong enough to defeat Gaara, and they also killed an entire squad of top Jonin! How much of a chance can we possibly have, thinking realistically?_

But if I kept thinking like that, I'd just panic and get myself killed. So I pounded some fake hope forcefully into my head.

I slipped towards the other side of the cliff, so to be able to sneak up from behind. Kankuro strode out into the open the confront/distract the two Akatsuki. He threw down scrolls that released his puppets, and I started to edge forward. The process was painfully slow, but any sudden moves and I was finished. Kankuro was doing his job; I had to do mine to the best of my ability.

But the heavily masked Akatsuki figure drew out his own puppets. If this was how it was going to be, the blond man might just take off with Gaara still stuck on the bird. So it was either take a chance and move quickly, or take a chance and wait.

I chose the former.

And since this _was_ the Akatsuki, I decided to go all-out from the start.

I made several hand signs almost simultaneously.

_Twelve Fists-Second State!_

_Kazegakure no Jutsu-Hidden Wind Technique!_

So I was currently invisible and twice as fast. I had five minutes before the Twelve Fists really started gulping down chakra, which was good because using both techniques at once had delivered a pretty big blow to my stamina.

_All right..here goes.._

I ran as fast as I ever had, covering the 10-foot gap between myself and the bird in a matter of moments. Gaara looked awful; it was like his very skin was flaking off. I yanked hard at the bird's tail feathers, trying to free the redhead. _Come on, come on!_

"Ah-ah-ahhhh," a singsong voice chided from behind.

I caught a brief glimpse of the blond man before something small but powerful blew up in my face.

Searing heat engulfed my face, burning it. I felt some skin melting away and almost vomited. My eyes watered with the pain, but I kept my mouth firmly shut.

When the fire finally went away, the side of my face felt sensitive and very, very raw. _It hurts, but I've had worse. Besides, I have a higher priority right now!_

The blond was standing before me, grinning. "You seem have a decent tolerance for pain, _hmm_?" he commented. "But you won't be getting your friend, I fear. That bird is one of my masterpieces; you won't wreck it so easily. Looks like you're up against the wall now, _hmm_?"

_Curse it,_ I thought furiously. _He must've sensed my chakra building up, and followed the footprints made in the sand..crap, what am I going to do now?!_

My single remaining advantage was my invisibility. I aimed a punch at his gut. He blocked it, and responded by punching me squarely on the spot where I was burned.

I made a small noise. I couldn't help it; it hurt so much. _It's the skin_, I reasoned unhappily. _The skin got burned, therefore what's underneath is visible. Not to mention that burning flesh smell…yeah, that probably helps…_

Which took my advantages down to zero. _Great._

I crouched and swept my leg under, hoping to trip him up, but he jumped over and brought a kick down on the top of my head. Ears ringing, I started to feint left but realized it was useless; he couldn't see me.

My main priority was to rescue Gaara, so I returned my attention to that. I bashed the tail once with all my strength, but that was as far as I got before my opponent grabbed me and flung me across the cliff. Only quick reflexes, supported by luck, kept me from flying over the edge. _Crap. How do I win this…?_

_Hn.._

I put one hand to my face to cover as much of the burn as possible. Then I jumped into the air and kicked down on the blond, hard. His head jerked downward.

And then he disappeared. A clump of hardened sand was in his place.

My blood went cold. _Substitution._

"Nice try," that voice whispered in my ear. "But you knew from the start you couldn't beat me, _hmm_? 'Bye."

Pain in my head. The ground got closer. I pitched forward and collapsed, slipping into blackness.

……………………………………

"Shara. Can you hear me?"

_Ughh…_

"Shara. Wake up."

I forced my eyes open and groaned. My head felt like a rock had been smashed on it. My face hurt, albeit not nearly as much.

"Sensei?"

"Good," he said, a tinge of satisfaction in his otherwise worried voice. "Hmph…idiot. Why didn't you listen to me?!" I swallowed. "I'm sorry, Sensei." "'Sorry' doesn't answer my question," he pointed out impatiently.

"I…" _Think of something, think of something…_ "I'm a Sand shinobi, Sensei," I said. "I had an obligation to try to rescue Ga-the Kazekage-sama."

"…I don't buy that," he said after a short pause, "but fine. We have bigger problems."

_Right!_

I bolted up in the medical room cot, overcome by a sudden surge of panic. _Gaara!_ I remembered. _They took Gaara! I have to-_

"I know what you're thinking," Baki-sensei said warningly. "Don't even try it. At least, not right now. Myself and these medic-nin don't need any more headache."

"What happened?!" I exclaimed, trying not to sound as desperate as I felt. Baki-sensei sighed. "Kankuro was defeated by Sasori of the Red Sand, a former Suna shinobi who is now a member of the Akatsuki. He essentially founded the art of the puppet master, if you remember." My eyes widened. Kankuro had been fighting against the legendary _Sasori_?

"He's injured. Sasori uses poison in his puppets. We found the two of you about a half an hour ago, and the medic-nin worked well on you. You'll have a pretty decent scar on your face, but they managed to replace the skin. Kankuro, on the other hand…"

He bit his lip. "They're way out of their league. We may have to consult the Old Ones on this." I gulped. The Old Ones were the most ancient residents of Sunagakure. They were elusive and silent, never leaving their home. If _they_ needed to be called in, then Kankuro had to be in really bad shape.

And the obvious question-"Sensei," I began apprehensively, "G-Gaara-sama…?"

He shook his head. "Gone," was the answer. "Long gone. Who knows what they have planned for him."

My heart sank.

"What is Suna planning to do in response?"

"The Fifth Hokage of Konoha, Lady Tsunade, has decided to send a few squads to help retrieve the Kazekage-sama. The first of those squads should be here soon, actually."

Relief.

_Good,_ I thought. _I will definitely be joining them!_

_I wonder which squads have been sent…?_

**To Be Continued…**


	32. Chapter 32

Disclaimer: Have you changed your mind yet?

Kyo: HELL NO!!

Me: Will you quit using such foul language? You might scare off the readers!

Kyo: GOOD!! I HOPE THEY RUN AND NEVER COME BACK!!!

Me:…You are vile. Fine. Next time, I'm calling in Kagura!

Kyo: YOU WOULDN'T DARE!!!

Me: Watch me! Feel free to throw things at Kyo, cherished readers..-offers kunai-I don't own Naruto; only Shara and Ikaru. –sigh- And I thought Matt was bad…

**A/N: So sorry about going AWOL and making you wait!!! Gaahhh, gomenasai!!! –bows- And yet you continue to honor me with such lovely reviews…domo arigato! I will try very hard not to leave you hanging for so long without warning!!**

**Ahem…now that I've finished acting like a spazz….This chapter is dedicated to SaphirePhoenix; thanks for Alerting! Also to Art Is A Blast (love that pen name); thanks for Favoriting! Also to everyone who so kindly reviewed the last chapter; thank you all!! **

**somerandomperson****-san; eep! Sorry I accidentally took your idea…-.-;; **

**LadyAmazon****-san; ooohh, I **_**like**_** that idea. I may just use that!**

**Mazmysta****-san; hmm…uh, good question… I hadn't really thought about it. (Yeah, this stuff is all really well thought out…-sweatdrop-) I guess it's up to everyone to just use their imagination! Gomen! (Oooh, you drew a picture of Shara?! –cheers- Thanks a ton!! I'm honored!!)**

**Okay, now I'm **_**really**_** finished spazzing. Enjoy Chapter 32!!**

**Wanderer of the Sand**

**Chapter XXXII**

…………………………**.**

Doubtless Baki-sensei sensed what I was planning, and would've tried to stop me. But one of the medic-nin asked for his attention and I slipped away.

Ikaru ambushed me right outside the door of the medical building. "Shara-sama!?" he exclaimed, wincing at the sight of my face but quickly regaining his energy. "You okay?!"

"Yes, Ikaru-kun," I said calmly, walking briskly for my training spot. "I'm fine. Thank you again, by the way." "Don't mention it. It was the right thing to do, y'know?"

_Hn. When he puts it that way.._ "And you?" I inquired, still hurrying forward. "You aren't injured?" "Nah; just..bruised." He winced again. "_Really_ bruised, y'know?"

Oh, did I. "Ikaru-kun," I said, "I'm going to train by myself. You can do whatever you want. Usually I'd help you out; I'm sorry, but I can't right now."

"Alright," he replied cheerfully. "No problem. I'll train too. Gotta get better, y'know!?"

I half-smiled. _He really wants to become a Chunin. _

_Reminds me of a certain persistant loudmouth…who doesn't know just how much good he's done._

……………………….

"Umm….Shara-sama?"

It had been…maybe thirty minutes since our 'separate' training session began. I hadn't really been paying attention to the time.

"_What_, Ikaru?!" I snapped.

He raised his eyebrows slightly. I think we were both equally taken aback; I was alarmed that I had answered so harshly, not even addressing him with a honorific. "I-I'm sorry, Ikaru-kun," I stammered lamely. What was the matter with me?

Ikaru didn't answer for a second. Then he looked me in the eye and said plainly, "Are you all right?" "What kind of question is-" I barely caught and held back the same harshness. "Why would you ask that?" I literally had to force myself to remain calm. _What is wrong with me?!_

He spoke seriously. "I've been watching you train for a few minutes now. You've been…in your own world, like. And it's-" He hesitated. "It's-you-you're acting like someone else. You looked vicious. Like it was your worst enemy you were fighting, instead of a tree." To prove his point, he gestured to a sticklike tree that stood next to us-or what was left of it.

Acid ate away at my stomach as my student continued gravely; the obvious lack of even a "y-know" to punctuate his sentences pointed out just how serious he was. "You looked hungry for battle. For death. Bloodthirsty, monster-like, the way Kazekage-sama used to-"

"Stop. Right. There."

Proof of what he had been saying was written clearly in my three words. _Something_ had changed.

I had almost slapped him.

"If-no. Monsters exist." I fought hard to maintain a somewhat calm façade. "But trust me, Ikaru-kun, please. Kaze-_Gaara_-sama is not a monster. _He..is…not…a monster_." The last words were said slowly.

Ikaru nodded, sort of smiling. _He knows,_ I realized. _He knows about my..feelings._ My face burned. "Yeah," he said. "Of course _I_ don't think Kazekage-sama's a monster. No way-he's too nice, y'know? It's just that-well, he _used_ to be, y'know? Before he came back from Konohagakure. Baki-san told me." He grinned.

And, in all honesty, I couldn't argue. I, too had been more than a little afraid of the redhead during the Chunin Exams. "Yes," I agreed softly. "But things are different now." "Yeah…"

The training proceeded. Now that Ikaru had pointed it out, I noticed some kind of bloodlust building in me as I tried to sweat out my nervousness.

I figured where it was coming from, and attempted to cool down.

I was livid. I didn't anger easily; this was because of Gaara. And the Akatsuki.

The Akatsuki.

I hated them. That was the source of the rage.

Hate.

……………………..

I eventually returned to the medic building, and was momentarily shocked.

In the room were Temari, Kankuro lying on a cot, Baki-sensei, assorted medic-nin, an old lady and an even older-looking man.

Along with the half-masked, grey-haired Konoha Jonin and-

"Naruto-san?" I said in amazement. "Sakura-san?"

Three years had made a lot of difference. Sakura's hair was cut short, and her outfit looked considerably more practical. There was an air of hidden strength around her that I couldn't remember noticing before.

Naruto was almost unrecognizable. His violently orange jumpsuit had been mellowed out (although not so much that you couldn't still see him a mile away), more black than orange. He was much taller, and although there was still that spark in his expression that read pure Naruto, there was more maturity, more power, in his face and stance.

"Shara-kun!" Sakura exclaimed. "Nice to see you!" I bowed. When I rose, Naruto was right up in my face.

"Hmm," he said, staring at me intensely. "I feel like I've seen you before…_somewhere_…grr, I just can't remember!"

"…"

Sakura whacked him upside the head. "You moron!" she yelled. "It's the Sand kunoichi from the Chunin Exams; remember, baka?! She was involved it your fight with Gaara, for crying out loud!"

A look of comprehension dawned on the loudmouth's face as he rubbed the sore spot on his head. "Ohhh yeah. Now I remember. You were that weird girl with the crush on Gaara, right?"

Sakura smacked him again while I tried to avoid turning scarlet. "Nice to see you both again," I covered, mortified. _And he had to say it in front of BAKI-sensei, of all people!_ "So..what's our situation?"

"I got most of the poison out of Kankuro's system," Sakura explained. "I just need to get some supplies for an _entire_ antidote, and he should be fine." "Oh, good," I said with relief. "And..?" My gaze traveled to the elderly people.

_Elderly…Elders? The-the Old Ones?!_

"E-Ebizo-sama!? Chiyo-sama?!" I yelped like an idiot, bowing so deeply so fast I almost fell forward on my head.

"Get a hold of yourself," Elder Chiyo said in a scratchy voice. "Over excitable child." My face had gone back to burning. "G-gomenasai, Chiyo-sama," I said as calmly as possible (which..wasn't very calm, unfortunately). "It's just-you are the Old Ones of Sunagakure. It's an-an honor." My voice faltered as she turned on me with her hard gaze. "S-sorry," I murmured, averting my gaze to the floor.

It was the only safe thing to look at, currently.

………………….

Baki-sensei put us on track. Sakura and Elder Chiyo went to gather herbs for Kankuro's remedy; the rest stayed in the room with aforementioned injured ninja. He didn't give me any instruction; I think he was still hoping to keep me in Suna.

Which was most certainly not going to happen. Not this time.

I waited by the gate, restless, dying to leave. After awhile the others joined me. I was informed that Kankuro had woken up and been given his antidote. Temari was staying in Sand to aid border security, orders of Elder Chiyo-Temari couldn't have been unhappier with the instruction, but shockingly agreed to it.

In her stead, Elder Chiyo herself was joining us ("us" being Naruto, Sakura, the Konoha Jonin-whose name I discovered was Kakashi-and myself). Turned out Sasori of the Red Sand was her grandson. _What a mess,_ I observed silently after hearing that bit of information.

Baki-sensei bid us farewell and good luck, adding that he and other Suna shinobi would follow at some point as backup. I tried to stay out of his sight, in case he tried to forcibly keep me in the Sand.

And we were off. I prayed-even though gods seemed to not like me very much-that we would all return safely.

All of us, and Gaara.

**To Be Continued….**


	33. Chapter 33

Disclaimer: Well?

Kyo: GIVE IT A REST!! I'M IN PAIN, D---IT!!

Me:…-sigh-Please forgive him…kunai were thrown at him last chapter, so he's not very happy right now.

Kyo: THE HELL I'M NOT!!!

Me: Alright, I am sick of your horrible language! KAGURA-SAAANN!!!

Kyo: NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU-

Kagura: Y-yes..? –eyes grow huge- K-Kyo? I was wondering where you were..

Kyo: I'LL DO IT, I'LL DO IT!!! LET ME G-!

Kagura: I…was…so….WORRIED ABOUT YOOOOUUU!!!!! –starts beating the crud out of Kyo-

Me: That oughta teach the hardhead…ahem; I do not own Naruto, only Shara and Ikaru.

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to my friend moonfairie; thanks for reviewing, Favoriting and Alerting! Also to strawberrybabecutie; thanks for throwing a kunai at Kyo. XD You have quite an arm; I feel bad for poor Iori!**

**Also, I would like to apologize for taking so long to update; I had all my stories on temporary hold to put together a Halloween fic, and it took longer than expected. –sweatdrop- So, gomenasai, and I hope you enjoy the chapter! -SS**

**Wanderer of the Sand**

**Chapter XXXIII**

…………………

We started following Gaara's scent (at the very least, Kakashi seemed to be; unfortunately, tracking-especially by scent alone-was _not_ my strong point). Jumping through the trees in our odd little pack, I remembered something Baki-sensei had mentioned.

"Erm-Kakashi-san?" I asked, a bit out of my comfort zone addressing this unfamiliar Jonin. "Yes?" he responded in a laid-back tone. "Baki-sensei said that the Fifth Hokage was sending squads from Konoha to help rescue Ga-the Kazekage-sama. 'Squad_s_'. As in, plural. So..not to sound disrespectful, but where is the other squad?"

Kakashi chuckled. "They'll meet up with us eventually." Before I could ask when, where, and which squad it was, Sakura asked a more relevant question that blew mine clear out of my mind.

"Why did the Akatsuki wait almost three years to resurface?" she inquired seriously. "Resurface..?" I interjected in confusion. "The Akatsuki are currently trying to extract and gain control of every biju they can possibly get their hands on," Kakashi explained. "They came after Naruto two and a half years ago, but failed and pretty much vanished. Until now, anyway." "Biju?" This was the third question I had asked in less than a minute. I was beginning to feel like an idiot all over again.

"Demonic beasts," Elder Chiyo answered in her scratchy voice. "There are nine, each with a different number of tails. The one-tailed beast, the Shukaku, resides within Gaara." She glanced significantly at Kakashi, who added, "And Naruto holds the nine-tails-the Kyubi. The fox demon. The containers of biju are known as 'jinchuriki'."

I was silent for a moment. So Naruto was also the host of a demon. _That explains a lot._ Including how he was able to help Gaara so much-he was the only person who could truly understand the redhead and his pain. I suddenly felt very small. _No wonder I felt so out of my league during Gaara and Naruto's fight!_

"So…?" Sakura ventured slowly, trying to turn the conversation back to her question. "Do you have any idea?"

"Well, Naruto was with Lord Jiraiya at the time," Kakashi suggested. "There wasn't much they could do against a Sannin."

"No," Elder Chiyo contradicted. "I think that there's another reason. They needed time."

"Time?" Sakura pressed.

"Extracting a biju from its host is a lengthy and draining process that requires skill, stamina and _much_ preparation if it's to be done successfully," the old woman responded. "They needed time to carry out that preparation."

There was silence for a few minutes after the explanations were finished. Who knows how long it would have lasted unbroken if we hadn't run into trouble.

"_Stop, everyone_!" Kakashi ordered. We screeched to an abrupt halt.

Standing calmly in our path was a tall and shadowy figure draped in the Akatsuki's distinctive cloak. His head was slightly bowed. The few features I could make out were different but yet familiar. It was a curious feeling. _Who is he?_

He slowly raised his head, looking at us boldly with narrowed eyes. _Pained eyes. What's the deal?_ He wore a Konoha forehead protector with a deep scar running through the Leaf symbol, as if serving as testimony to the fact that he had severed all ties with his village.

He had a handsome face, lined and intelligent. He had long black hair and a determined aura. And there was something odd about those eyes…

_Wait. Red..black shapes…the Sharingan!_

_But that means…oh, crap._

"Uchiha Itachi." Naruto spoke the name with barely concealed loathing.

_No wonder he looks familiar. Sasuke's rogue brother._

"Yes," Elder Chiyo said softly. "That's the boy who murdered his entire clan.." I held back my horror. _No wonder Sasuke was so bitter. How awful._ "Who do you think you are?!" Naruto yelled accusingly, like the loudmouth I remembered him to be. "You come for me, you kidnap Gaara-I'm gonna take you out!!" Silently I was torn between cheering him on and rolling my eyes, as he had just demolished my more mature view of him. _Uchiha Itachi is a member of the Akatsuki, and if he was powerful enough to singlehandedly wipe out the legendary Uchiha clan, he is no pushover. Does Naruto really think he can win?_

But then again, he had beaten the odds before. And besides, he didn't think-he just _did_. Which could have been his greatest weakness or his best asset.

But there was a time and place for deep, philosophical thought, as there was for coming to pointless conclusions. This was neither time or place. The problem at hand was huge and looming. The dark young man was a major roadblock in our rescue mission.

His hand moved almost imperceptibly. "Don't look into his eyes!" Kakashi warned. I quickly fixed my eyes on the Uchiha's midriff. _As long as I can see what hand signs he's making, no eye contact shouldn't be __**too**__ big a disadvantage.._ But it _was_ a disadvantage. Often, the closest of battles came down to how well you could read your opponent's eyes and expression.

"I'll take him," Kakashi said. "Be careful; I may need you all as backup."

…………………………

Explaining the exact details of the following fight would take forever, and a summary wouldn't exactly be short, either. So here was our situation some time later:

Kakashi and Naruto had fought Itachi, and-with the help of one of Naruto's new attacks, Ransengan-had seemingly defeated him.

Unfortunately, the Uchiha couldn't be beaten that easily. Examining the body, we found that it was not Itachi-far from. The body was that of Yura, a Sand Jonin.

There were no apparent explanations; several suggestions had come up and been shot down in turn. As confused as we were, there was no other option but to just move on.

But before that happened, Elder Chiyo was once again able to shed a spot of light on our ever-darker situation. "There's no doubt," she said gravely. "They've begun to extract the biju!" We looked at her questioningly. "Presumably," she continued, her face darkening, "they're trying to create a jinchuriki of their own, using the Shukaku."

In a tone of understanding laced with underlying urgency, Kakashi stated, "Then there's no time to lose. We have to hurry to rescue Gaara."

_Why does that occur to him __**now**__?_ I couldn't help but wonder. _Wasn't that a priority from the start? Why is he suddenly making it an even larger issue, just because Elder Chiyo said they've begun…?_

It took a minute for it to click, and when it did, I almost choked.

_Dear God, no…_

"E-Elder Chiyo-sama," I said in a nervous tone. "Please tell me you aren't saying what I think you're saying."

She shot me a look of distaste-and perhaps pity.

"Yes," she answered coolly. "When the biju is extracted, the host inevitably-" she inhaled sharply "-dies."

I swore quietly. _No. Oh, no. We have to move fast! Why are we standing around?! We have to __**move**__!_

Tears had gathered in Sakura's eyes and were beginning to spill over. "Always quick to cry, Sakura," Naruto observed, shooting her a grin. "Don't worry. I'm gonna save Gaara!" "Naruto, it's _you_ I'm-" she started to protest, but was cut off by Naruto's insistent "C'mon, we'd better get going."

I was relieved that he had made the suggestion. We started to move onward again.

It's not like I wasn't worried about Naruto; of course I was. Loud, callous, and obnoxious as he could be, he was a good guy, and a good friend.

But-call me coldhearted-I was worried about Gaara more. I was well aware that it was cruel to consider one person's life more valuable than anothers', and I _did_ value the loudmouth's life. But Gaara was the Kazekage, a sensei, a leader. He was important-vital, almost-to so many people; not just me. People needed him. _Sunagakure_ needed him.

If it meant more concentration that could be used to save Gaara, I would lower myself to that cold point. I would put aside anything in order to rescue him.

However, all of that was absolutely necessary only in a worst-case scenario.

In a more hopeful version, the one I was rooting for, nobody got hurt.

That kind of choice wouldn't have to be made.

We moved on, jumping through trees again. Moving forward.

**To Be Continued…**

**A/N: …Why do I feel that my writing was lacking in this chapter?? Hn…**

**Anyway, I hope you liked it. :) Reviews are greatly appreciated, but feel no obligation. Have a nice day. –SS**


	34. Chapter 34

Disclaimer: I've had just about enough of this…Kyo, are you willing yet?!

Kyo (still wounded from Kagura's rampage):…All right. Fine. SkywardShadow doesn't own Naruto or any of the characters in it besides Shara and Ikaru, d---it!

Me: Good enough. See, you can do decent disclaimers if you put your mind to it!

Kyo: -resists urge to swear- Fine. Now get me home!

**A/N: Well, **_**that**_** only took four chapters….**

**This chap is dedicated to lilmeika; thanks for Alerting!**

**Hope you enjoy!! –SS**

**Wanderer of the Sand**

**Chapter XXXIV**

…………………

"Who is that Naruto kid?"

Elder Chiyo's quiet inquiry, aimed at Kakashi, caught my attention. I tried to stay as quiet as possible, to hear what they were saying (yes, I am a very bad shinobi).

"Why is he trying so hard to save Gaara?" she continued. "He's not even from the same village." "Naruto probably doesn't have any special feelings for the Sand," the grey-haired Jonin answered after a pause. "But whether it's Suna or Konoha means nothing. He understands Gaara as none of us possibly can. To Naruto, Gaara is a comrade who shares his pain. Naruto has a special power, you see…without exchanging many words, he can strike up a friendship with anyone."

"…I've lived long," the old lady said slowly. "Learned much. Alliances with other countries are mere formalities. They mean next to nothing, and won't protect Suna."

There was another brief silence. I was no expert, but it seemed as if Elder Chiyo was trying to convince herself that something wasn't worth as much as it might seem to be. Then again, what do I know?

"…The jutsu." _Hn?_ The Elder was speaking again.

"The jutsu that sealed the Shukaku inside of Gaara. I did it."

_**WHAAAT?!?!?!**_

My senses went haywire. I heard no more of their conversation; in fact, I was wishing that I'd never started listening to it at all. I had been justly punished for eavesdropping.

_**She**__ did it?! __**Elder Chiyo**__ put that demon inside Gaara?!_

I was furious, and trying not to let it show. _Then-she's the one who's responsible!? For all of it!_

Thankfully, another twist in the situation distracted me long enough to keep my anger from boiling over.

"You're late, Kakashi."

We were landing. "We ran into trouble along the way," Kakashi replied lightly. "You don't mean me, do you, Kakashi?" Elder Chiyo asked dryly.

_We've run into_ _the other squad, _I assumed. _That voice is fami-oh, my…_ "Tenten?!" I exclaimed, forgetting myself.

It was indeed Tenten. She had a large scroll strapped to her back and a new white top, but other than that looked just like I remembered her. She beamed. "Shara! Great to see you! Man, how lucky?" I nodded, grinning stupidly. Hyuga Neji, Rock Lee and Gai-sensei were there as well, providing me with a healthy dose of flashbacks.

"Five-seal barrier," Gai commented, gesturing to the rocks behind him. "Let's do this!!" "I'll get outta here, since I probably won't be any help," said an unfamiliar voice. I turned toward the source and did a double-take. Perhaps even a triple-take.

A dog. Wearing a Konoha forehead protector. On Lee's shoulder. Talking.

_Talking?!_

My imminent brain short-circuit must've been written all over my face, because Kakashi quickly offered the explanation, "He's a ninja dog. A partner of mine." I nodded, feeling slightly dazed. _A..ninja…dog. Giant talking toads, huge foxes, sand demons, and now this…I have officially seen everything._ "Go ahead, Pakkun. Good work." Kakashi dismissed the dog.

"Right! So how do we take out these barriers?" Gai questioned. "This particular barrier is sealed with five 'Kin' tokens scattered around the vicinity," Kakashi answered, sounding like a walking textbook. "There's one token in front of you-" he gestured to a scroll with a kanji on it attached to the rocks "-and the other four are around here somewhere."

"Riiight," Naruto said slowly. "So how do we find the other four?"

"Neji?" the grey-haired Jonin said. "Understood," the long-haired boy replied. "_Byakugan_!!" His white eyes gained something resembling pupils, and veins popped out around them.

A few seconds went by while I stood, feeling like I should have question marks floating off of my head. _What was that??_ "..Found them," Neji spoke up with a hint of triumph.

"On top of a rock 500 meters northeast..on a tree trunk by a riverbank 350 meters southeast..on a wall of rock 650 meters northwest..and inside a grove 800 meters southwest."

I gaped, awed, as Gai pulled a bunch of small radios out of his bag and passed them around. "We'll split up to follow Neji's directions," he proclaimed. "Speedwise, my team has yours beat. The frequency is 174; wait for our message!"

I attached the radio to my collar, taking Tenten's lead. _So we're just going to wait here??_

"It's up to you," Kakashi agreed.

"Team 10!!" Gai roared. "_Deploy with the power of youth_!! _**SCATTER**_!!"

And they did, leaving the rest of us to figure out if we were permanently deaf from his yelling.

**To Be Continued…**

**A/N: Because I forgot to mention it in the first AN…I suck. I once again left this story to rot for a while. I need to quit falling behind! –SS**


	35. Chapter 35

Disclaimer: I know I'm going to regret this, but I've asked Jiraiya to do the disclaimer.

Jiraiya: SkywardShadow does not own Naruto or any of the characters in it..besides Ikaru and Shara-kun…-eyes Shara-

Shara: -twitch-

Me: -whacks the Pervy Sage upside the head- Gomen, all; gomen, Shara-chan. -.-;

Shara:…I hate you. Quit getting these wackos to do the disclaimers!

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to XXBloodQueenXX; domo arigato for your lovely review! (Mazmysta-san, your review also made me quite happy. :D) YOU ALL ROCK!! **

**Quick thing; because of the translation I'm using for reference here, there's a considerable bit of language. Dunno if anyone cares, but just in case. Enjoy! -SS**

**Wanderer of the Sand**

**Chapter XXXV**

……………………………**..**

After Team Youth (ahem, Team 10) 'scattered', Kakashi got to work on the first token. He peeled it off cautiously; to my surprise, nothing blew up. _No way can it be that easy…_

"Sakura!!" he ordered. The pink-haired kunoichi raced forward, shattering the gigantic rock with a powerful punch. My eyes just about popped out of my head. _Well. She's certainly..changed…_

Barrier destroyed, we were now looking at an ominous entrance. Kakashi made a signal, and the others scattered, myself a beat behind.

We stood just inside the entrance of a large but not far-reaching cave. And we weren't alone. I swallowed hard, trying to fight off the sick feeling and urge to scream.

"Well, which one of you is the Jinchuriki, I wonder? _Hmm_…"

Gaara was lying on the ground, eyes closed. I had never seen him with his eyes closed, so that was an immediate red flag. He looked….

_Don't think it!_

The blond man, hair in a ponytail, was sitting on top of him, flanked by a large and ugly figure wearing an Akatsuki cloak and a large clay-colored bird.

"Get off of him," I snarled, unable to contain myself. But Naruto didn't give them time to respond. "You _bastards_!" he shouted angrily. "I'll tear you to pieces!!" I saw with alarm that the whisker marks on his face looked darker and more prominent. His eyes had also changed, becoming more vicious and feral. _Does this have something to do with the Fox Demon..?_

"The boy," the large figure murmured. "It would seem, _hmm_?" the blond man commented lightly.

Naruto ignored them, and aimed his agitation at Gaara. "What are you sleeping for?!" he yelled. "_Stand the hell up_!!"

Silence.

"GAARA!! ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?!!" he continued desperately.

"Stop, Naruto," Kakashi said softly. "You should understand what's going on here."

"Yeah, don't you get it?" the blond man asked, a smirk in his voice. "He's long dead, _hmm_?"

_No._

_**No.**_

"GAARA!!"

I didn't care that I had screamed. It didn't matter. There was no answer.

Gaara was dead.

They had killed him.

"_**You f---ing**_-!!!"

My screechy sentence was never finished. I ran at those lowlifes, those bastards who had killed him, loading up chakra for all I was worth.

I reached the blond man, dimly aware that Naruto had tried to follow, and half-finished creating the Phoenix Rain. But I was not about to wait. I wanted to inflict as much pain and agony on this man as I possibly could. Even though nothing I or anyone could do would be terrible enough for him.

I punched him in the face as hard as I could, fire added to the hit by the unfinished fire-style jutsu.

Of course, I also paid the price for attacking with an incomplete jutsu. Fire jolted up my arm, but I didn't feel the physical pain. Oddly, there was no sign yet of inner pain; I figured it was only a matter of time. Rage was the current dominant emotion I was feeling.

The man raised his head, smirking, but with furious eyes. A nasty bruise-burn covered one side of his face. _He didn't expect it,_ I realized in the back of my mind. _He expected someone to stop me._ But Kakashi had had his hands full keeping Naruto at bay.

Unfortunately, someone else had gotten the wind to keep me from getting myself killed. One second I felt a hand grab my collar, then I was quickly dragged back to the group. "Don't do anything more idiotic than what you already have," Elder Chiyo snapped, not letting go of me. "They will destroy you, understand?!"

I almost started swearing at her too, but the calm part of me was pulling me back to sanity.

I preferred my bloodthirsty side, where the loss didn't hurt.

But there was no choice. I nodded miserably, and the old woman slowly released me.

Naruto was being restrained by Kakashi, looking livid.

"I'll look after this one," the large figure said calmly, glancing down at Gaara's body. "Well, it looks like the jinchuriki wants to take this one back, _hmm_?" the blond commented in amusement. "So does that one, _hmm_?" He gestured carelessly at me.

_You're dang freaking right I do._ I bit my tongue.

"You might not like this," the blond continued, his tone switching to serious, "but I'll take on the jinchuriki."

"One member per beast," the other man growled. "You know that. Don't push your luck, Deidara."

"He's supposed to be very strong," Deidara pressed. "An artist need inspiration, you know."

Naruto broke away from Kakashi. "Stop playing around!!" he roared, using a scroll to summon a windmill shuriken. He flung it at the large man, but a bony-looking _tail_ slid out from under the man's cloak to fend off the weapon. From the clang sound at contact, the tail was made of metal. _What in the Five Great Shinobi Nations?_

"Deidara, you little…are you _trying_ to anger me?" the large man asked irritably. "I _said_ you wouldn't like it," Deidara responded; the debate continued as if nothing had happened.

"My fine art is explosions," the blond continued, getting up off Gaara's body. "Quite different from your puppet show, _hmm_?" The clay bird picked the redhead's limp form up in its beak.

"See you," Deidara said cheerfully. The bird took flight, still holding Gaara; its master leapt up on it casually.

And the bird swallowed Gaara's corpse.

_What the he-?!_ "You piece of-!" Elder Chiyo smacked me upside the head-_hard_-to shut me up. Probably for the best, looking back.

"Wait _up_!!" Naruto yelled, running to the mouth of the cave. "Relentless," Kakashi sighed, moving toward the adamant blond boy. "He and I will take care of the one that just escaped. Chiyo, Sakura, Shara; you handle this one."

Elder Chiyo and Sakura nodded, but I hurried toward Naruto. "Wait up," I muttered. Kakashi came over, frowning. "Shara-" "That man killed Gaara-sama," I interrupted, scowling, daring him to try and stop me. "There is _no way_ I am going to stay here. If _you_ can go and beat the crap out of him, so can I."

"…Fine. Let's move it, people."

We exited the cave; Deidara was hovering a few dozen feet in the air, watching us with interest. "Gai-come back quickly; you're needed." Kakashi was speaking into his radio. "_We can't_," was the reply. "_We've fallen into the enemy jutsu, so we're rather busy at the moment_."

We jumped up onto the gate in front of the cave's entrance while Kakashi pulled down a side of his mask, revealing a scar and-

_The Sharingan Eye?!_

I would have to interrogate later, though. "You sure it's me you want to fight, Kakashi of the Sharingan? _Hmm_?" Deidara taunted. "After all, the ladies in there are battling Sasori of the Red Sand.." _No way. __**That**__ was Sasori?!_

"Maybe I shouldn't say this," he continued airily, "but Sasori is even more powerful than I am." "Kakashi-sensei, you should go help Sakura," Naruto urged his mentor. "I'll save Gaara!" "Not alone, you won't," I pointed out.

The Jonin couldn't answer; Naruto wasn't going to wait any longer. He shot through the air at the bird, who dodged at the last second. The loudmouth smashed headfirst into the tall riverbank.

_That's my cue,_ I thought grimly, jumping at Deidara while his back was turned. He whipped around quickly, blocking my punch and almost landing me in the river. "Not again, little girl, _hmm_?" he said in a singsong voice.

He threw a small clay bird-bomb at Kakashi, who threw a shuriken and destroyed it. Out of the smoke came another shuriken, which the Jonin blocked with a kunai. He steadied himself on the dirt wall, which Naruto had popped out of. "I am not letting you take Gaara!" the latter roared.

"You-and Gaara as well-you are quite the odd jinchuriki, aren't you?" Deidara observed. "You actually seem to care about others. Previous jinchuriki…nobody came to save them. Both of you, so pitiful and detested..you just couldn't ignore each other, _hmm_?" His tone hardened. "Because Gaara's Shukaku was extracted, he died. And soon you will share the same fate, got it?"

"I-I'll kill you all," was the response. Naruto's voice was shaking-in anger, or in grief, I couldn't tell you.

**To Be Continued…**

**A/N: That, oddly, was a really fun chapter to write! I hope you liked it!!**

**Reviews are so greatly appreciated, but don't feel like you have to. Thanks for reading! –SS**


	36. Chapter 36

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto; just Shara!

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to XXBlackfireXX; thanks for reviewing, Alerting and Favoriting! Also to Lunylulu and artemis; thanks for your spazzy reviews. XD **_**Also**_** to SomeOtherPerson; thanks for reviewing, Alerting and Favoriting! **

**Wanderer of the Sand **

**Chapter XXXVI**

…………………………**..**

The bird and its master retreated over the woods. We pounced from branch to branch below in pursuit.

"Wait up!" Kakashi ordered Naruto abruptly. The loudmouth ignored him. So the Jonin leapt forward, grabbing his overzealous student and making him stop.

I joined them in nonmovement, confused and impatient. "Why are we stopping?!" I demanded.

Kakashi started moving again as we followed; he had just been trying to slow Naruto down. "Now listen up, you two," the grey-haired man said in a low voice. "There are two ways to defeat an opponent like this. One-you draw him into short range, then attack. Or two-you overpower him with your own long-range attacks."

"Now, in this situation you must have either someone who specializes in long-range jutsu or a brain like Shikamaru. Otherwise, victory is impossible." "Get to the point!" Naruto snapped. "Which are _you_?!"

"Well," drawled Kakashi, "I guess I'm a Jonin who specializes in long-range jutsu and has a brain like Shikamaru."

"Then we have what we need!" Naruto yelled impatiently. "Calm down," he was reprimanded. "It's not that easy. He's giving us no openings. This is a man who entered the Sand and defeated Gaara _by himself_. Above all, he is a member of the Akatsuki. Therefore, our only option is to _create_ an opening. Now let me tell you the plan…"

………………………

"It's still not ready?! Come on, Kakashi-sensei!"

"I told you, calm down. And besides it's-there. Ready. Let's go!"

His Sharingan had changed.

He used it to create the amazingly realistic illusion that all of time and space was warping; something invisible closing on Deidara. The pinnacle was supposed to be Kakashi using the illusion to crush Deidara, but the blond man sensed what was happening at the last possible second. He dove sideways, his arm crushed off.

The illusion broke as blood spurted. Kakashi tried to refocus, but the target was now swerving everywhere.

This was Naruto's cue. He made a Shadow Clone, and both boy and clone attacked Deidara in midair with a spiral jutsu.

The Akatsuki member's distraction cost him; although the attack didn't hit him as he dodged, his clay bird was roughly split in half. I bolted, catching the half that held Gaara (and almost collapsing at the weight of it) and laying it carefully on a tree branch.

Deidara landed on another branch nearby, catching his breath.

Realizing that attack was not imminent, I started tearing at the clay in a frenzy. Naruto sent his Shadow Clone to help out as he and Kakashi also caught their breath on a third branch.

An idea hit me. "Back up," I warned the clone, who obliged. I made the necessary hand signs.

_Twelve Fists-Mastered State!_

Tripled strength. _This had better work._ My chakra was all but gone.

I reared back and punched the brittle clay with every ounce of power I could muster up.

It only occurred to me _after_ the fact that I could have hit Gaara. Thankfully, I didn't.

Not that it really mattered anymore.

His corpse was in a sitting position inside the clay, eyes still closed. My stomach did another uncomfortable lurch. _Oh God…_

Naruto's face fell. I heard his real self say in a deadly calm tone, "I will get you."

"I'll fight you again soon," the wounded explosives-expert replied agreeably.

"Yes. You've let your guard down," Kakashi remarked.

_No need to tell us twice!_

Another Naruto clone attacked from behind the blond man; I attacked from the front.

Deidara fell, but two furious young ninja were far from finished with him. Still more clones grabbed each of the man's limbs and held him to the ground.

The real Naruto and I closed in, putting the force of our fall and all of our fury into the kicks we delivered.

_**Pow!!**_

And we were not done.

Both of us were in a mad frenzy, kicking and punching like toddlers in a fight, but with considerably more power. Even in our exhausted state, we had silently resolved to give that man hell.

_**Bambambambambambam!!**_

The blood of Gaara's murderer was flying everywhere, covering the ground, covering us, but we couldn't care less. It didn't register. He had ended the life of someone dear to us. Our only desire was to cause him agony.

But even in that position, I knew enough to _back the heck off_ when Naruto loaded up his Rasengan and pounded into the man with it. _Jeez, loudmouth, are you trying to put a hole through my head?!_

But go figure.

Lying in Deidara's place was a clay substitution.

**To Be Continued….**


	37. Chapter 37

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto; just Shara!

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to dreamgirlnumeourno; thanks for Alerting! And to 3Luna21; thanks for Alerting as well! Also to Mazmysta, moonfairie, SnowStorm752 and Cherry Blossom Haiku (to answer your question; no, Shara's name isn't short for anything; but the name Sharada **_**is**_** pretty cool..); thanks a lot for helping this story to get past 100 reviews!!! **

–**happy dance- Hope you enjoy the chapter! –SS **

**Wanderer of the Sand**

**Chapter XXXVII**

…………………………

Something odd was happening.

A strange, acidic, bubbly-looking tail resembling that of a fox was appearing on Naruto. His face looked foxlike as well. And somewhat demonic.

Actual fangs were protruding from his mouth. _What the-?!_

Another tail began to emerge, along with foxlike ears. _This must have something to do with the Fox Demon…doesn't look like Naruto has any control over it…Is rage some sort of trigger, maybe?_ I wondered nervously.

The real Naruto cried out in pain, sinking to his knees. Kakashi pounced on the transforming clone and slammed an odd sort of seal onto the blond's forehead.

A sleepy look came over his face; the acidic additions to his anatomy vanished, along with the clone itself. The real Naruto joined us.

Out of nowhere appeared Elder Chiyo and Sakura, the latter supporting the former; both looking extremely worn out. "You did it," Naruto said with a weary sort of pride. "Yes," the old lady replied, uncaring. "That's not important. What of Gaara?"

What _of_ Gaara? I had been so wrapped up in anger, I hadn't… _Shameful. I let emotion get the better of me._

Looking up, I saw more clones lifting the young Kazekage from the branches. "Right.." Elder Chiyo began, but was cut off by a "Well done, Neji" from behind. We ran instinctively at the voice, and found Team 10 smirking down at a scrambling Deidara.

Tenten noticed a small movement from her enemy and threw shuriken at him, but he dodged. He pounced onto a waiting clay bird (_Again with the birds?_ I thought in disbelief), kunai in his mouth. The bird landed in the clearing before us; he spit the knife out, and instead gripped a clump of the _bird_ in his teeth. He ripped the chunk away and swallowed it.

_Disgusting. What on-? _

…_Oh, __**crap**__!!!_

How stupid _was_ I?! This was a man who specialized _with explosives_.

Which made it safe to assume that-"He's going to-!" I started, but Deidara himself cut me off. He was expanding now, grinning without any trace of fear. "My greatest work," he explained proudly.

"_Art is a bang_!!"

"Everyone _get away_!!" Neji yelled. But as it was in Suna, we were too late; there was no way we could escape the explosion fast enough. No way. _Crap…I'm sorry I couldn't at least get your body out of here, Gaara…_

But such was human nature that we ran anyway; never mind that it was hopeless, we bolted, the fire right on our heels, Naruto's clones half-dragging Gaara's body with them. "Too late," I heard Neji groan.

Just as I was preparing to be consumed by heat, the fire…_stopped??_

We were standing still in the middle of the woods, gazing at smoke that was the last remains of Deidara of the Akatsuki. That and a crater a few feet back.

"Wha-_what_?!" I managed to get out, thoroughly perplexed. "_Mangekyo Sharingan_," Kakashi said, gesturing to his enhanced eye. "I used it to send him and his explosion to another dimension." And he promptly sank to the ground, exhausted.

"But never mind that," he continued normally. "Is everyone safe?" _What kind of question is that?! Of course we're not 'all' safe! __**What about Gaara!?**_

"Sakura..?" Naruto questioned. His clones passed the redhead's body to the pink-haired medical ninja. _She did save Kankuro when no one else could..maybe she'll do the same for…?_

We trudged to the nearby field, finally free of that haunting forest, and laid his form on the ground. Sakura put her hands on him, trying to sense what she could do.

"Well?" Naruto asked shakily.

A miserable look came over Sakura's face.

My heart almost stopped.

She shook her head.

Shockwaves pounded through my body as I stared at the dead, impossible beauty of the Kazekage. _He's gone._

_Gone forever. _

_There was nothing that could be done._

"N-no," I whispered. "Th-there has to be s-_something_ you can do. You're a medical n-ninja. Please, Sakura!" Desperation. _Please!!_ She kept shaking her head, driving the stake deeper into my heart with each sway. "I'm sorry," she choked out, standing and backing away.

"Always Gaara," Naruto said softly, clenching his fists. "Why is it always Gaara..?"

I was crying. _He can't be gone. No. God, no, please, he can't be dead…_

But he was.

I walked over to his body, shaking so hard I thought I would fall over. "He can't die like this," I forced out, choking on my tears. "H-he can't. Not alone, like this-he's the Kazekage. The new freakin' Kazekage. Sunagakure-n-needs him. He-he-" Shaking. I wasn't even sure if my words were coherent, let alone making any kind of sense. No, the time for sense had long since passed.

"Calm down, girl," Elder Chiyo said softly, sadness tinting her voice.

_Calm down? Gaara is dead and she wants me to __**calm down**__?!_

It set me off.

I turned toward that old fossil slowly, deliberately. "Shut. Up," I hissed. "Shut up." My tone was raising. "Shut _up_! _Shut the freak up, you stupid hag!!_"

I felt them all staring at me, and couldn't care less. "How dare you tell me to calm down?! _Gaara is dead!_ Dead! The Akatsuki killed him! You want me to be _calm_?! _He is the Kazekage_! Do you have any freakin' _idea_ how much he's needed?!" Every foul thought I'd ever had concerning Gaara was pouring out as I screamed.

"And has it ever occurred to you that this is _your fault_?! Yours and every other revolting piece of crap who's been helping run Suna! You _scum_ put that monster inside Gaara! You destroyed his life before it had barely started, just to have that power! And when that demon started showing itself, you tried to kill him to cover up your mistake! You've treated him as nothing more than a pawn in your sick, political games!! God, you're all _disgusting_!"

Half-sobbing, half-shrieking. "If you hadn't put the Shukaku inside of him, this _never_ would have happened! He would be alive and well, instead of having been freakin' ostracized all his life and then, just when people were starting to trust him, dying!! Do you have any idea how he must have felt?!"

Like a child, I screeched "_This is your fault_!!" before dissolving in sobs on the hard ground.

**To Be Continued…**

**A/N: Ugh, I feel so bad for stealing Naruto's thunder…but I wanted to give Shara-chan an opportunity to let it all out, y'know? **

**Reviews are GREATLY loved and appreciated, but feel no obligation. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! -SS**


	38. Chapter 38

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto; only Shara!!

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to LadyAmazon, for giving me the idea for this chapter. (That feels like ages ago…) Domo arigato!!**

**Shara: And another matter…-twitch- "**_**Epic temper tantrum**_**"?!**

**Me:…Heh, heh…-.-;**

**Shara: Did you **_**have**_** to put that in the chapter?! Couldn't you have just edited it out?!**

**Me:…Well, what fun would it be if I didn't get to show your meltdown at Elder Chiyo?**

**Shara: You don't care about my dignity at **_**all**_**, do you?!**

**Me: Not particularly. Relax, it won't happen again. (Or will it?)**

**Shara: You..are…evil…**

**Me: What was your first clue?**

**Wanderer of the Sand**

**Chapter XXXVIII**

…………………**..**

I was crying so hard I felt like my guts should be coming right out. I wouldn't mind if they did. I wouldn't mind if the world came to an end right then, because it would never be the same without Gaara.

He'd never know. He would never know how much he was cared for. In most respects, he had died alone. It killed me.

The collective sounds of multiple people's sobbing-Naruto's included-rendered me oblivious to Elder Chiyo's movement as she knelt next to Gaara's corpse. There was a fierce look in her eyes as she put her experienced hands on the redhead, and chakra began to flow viciously from her body.

_Medical jutsu?_ I thought dully, wiping my face. _What's the point?_ "Chiyo-sama!" Sakura cried. "That jutsu-!" "What are you doing _now_?" Naruto asked emotionlessly.

She didn't answer. "_What the heck are you doing_?!" he yelled.

Sakura turned to him with an odd expression.

"She's bringing Gaara back."

……………….

I almost went into cardiac arrest on the spot. _What?! That's impossible! You can't bring someone back from the dead..can you?_

"You can really do something like that?!" the loudmouth inquired in surprise. "This jutsu is for Chiyo-sama alone," the pink-haired kunoichi responded calmly. But it was a different kind of calm. Like the calm before the storm. I didn't ponder, though.

A small groan came from the elder. She cursed. "Not enough chakra…"

_Not enough-? Ohh no. If she can do it, she __**will**__ do it. I refuse to let him die again! _I thought in determination. _Not if there's the slightest chance he could be saved._

_What if..?_

I knelt on the other side of the body, in front of the old woman, bowing my head in disgraced respect to the elder I had screamed at. I felt like such a worm, crawling back to offer my help after saying so many awful things.

"Could-could you use my chakra?" I asked quietly. "Please.."

"…" She stared at me. "…Put your hands on top of mine," she answered at last.

I nodded, putting my hands quickly on top of hers. "Take as much as you need," I urged her.

And man, did she. Almost instantly I felt my chakra being drained away in large quantities. I kept bringing more to the surface, digging through hidden depths, striving to find every drop of energy I had inside me. If I needed to sacrifice power to within an inch of my life, I would do it gladly.

I just wanted him to wake up.

"In the past," Elder Chiyo spoke unexpectedly, "I did everything wrong. But now, at the end..it looks like I'll finally be able to do the right thing." She smiled.

"I am glad that people like all of you came out of the world we old 'hags' created." She smirked. I blushed. "The future looks like it will be bright."

"Naruto..that power of yours Kakashi spoke of..use it, Become the best Hokage the world has ever known! Sakura..you also have great power. Please-next time, use it to save those dear to you, instead of someone like me."

She looked me in the eye. "Shara….Thank you."

I nodded, though not sure I fully understood. _Why is she saying these things now?_

"And all of you…please…help Gaara out," she concluded.

Three heads nodded collectively. _We will._

A final pull. Chakra dragged out of me sluggishly; I was on my last legs.

But was it enough?

My vision started to fade out, and I felt myself falling sideways. _I have..t'help…can't fall..now.._ My head hit the ground.

"Is-did't work…?" I stammered. But I wasn't awake for the answer. The drain was too much.

I found myself blacked out.

_Of all the times to…._

**To Be Continued….**

**A/N: Agh!! **_**Please don't kill me!!**_

**I know, it's short, but I want to save the conclusion parts for the next chap or two. **

**We are entering the home stretch, the final run, the…um, well, WOTS is almost over. –sigh- I truly have no idea what I'm going to do with myself…but ah well, there's still a chapter-perhaps two-left, so I can't start mourning yet.**

**Thanks for reading!! –SS**


	39. Chapter 39

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters in it. I do, however, own Shara and Ikaru.

**A/N: The second-to-last chapter! AGH!!!**

**-ahem- This chapter is dedicated to Luffly Emi; Koemi-chan; and Hatori Hana; thank you all for Alerting!!**

**(Oh yes; SnowStorm752-san. Thanks so much for the compliment! But unfortunately, I don't think I'm up for writing a sequel. At least, not now. Gomenasai… -.-;;) **

**Wanderer of the Sand**

**Chapter XXXIX**

………………………………**..**

"Hey, welcome back!"

_Uhmmm…. _"Whaaa..?" I uttered sleepily. "Tenten-san?"

She grinned. "You weren't out long, no worries. If you can, get up-I think there's something here you'd like to see."

My body screeched in protest, but I sat straight up. "Is-?!"

_Oh…God._

A gigantic group of backup Sunagakure ninja had arrived. In the center of all the hustle was…

"Gaara-sama!" My voice came out a squeak.

He was sitting upright, amazed, wide-eyed, so wonderfully _alive_. Living and breathing. I was trying not to act giddy. "That's-that's wonderful," I croaked. "Amazing. Fantastic. He's-he's really okay?" Her blinding beam was answer enough.

"Yeah, he's fine! So quit crying already!" _Huh?_ I hadn't noticed I was crying.

_Gah…I'm starting to think I will never learn to act like a true shinobi._

_But..maybe that's alright._

…………………….

Everyone who could had come to help in whatever way they could. Kankuro, Baki-sensei, Temari, Matsuri, a fresh Jonin named Akko who was sobbing in relief; a newly promoted Chunin named Keyshi who was fighting with Matsuri over Gaara.

The joy in the air was heavily marred, however, by the death of Elder Chiyo.

The ability she had used to bring back Gaara was a top-secret forbidden jutsu; she being the last who knew how to use it. It allowed a corpse to be returned to life-at the cost of the jutsu user's own life.

She had sacrificed herself to save Gaara. I felt even worse about the horrible things I had said to her. She deserved every respect.

Gaara pulled himself to his feet. "Everyone…pray for Elder Chiyo.."

We did so.

The field was silent for a long time.

…………………………

I didn't get a chance to speak with the revived Kazekage; in fact, I couldn't even get anywhere near him. He was constantly being crushed by a relieved crowd of Sand ninja. They couldn't have been happier to have their leader back. _He got his wish,_ I observed, sitting in the grass a few feet away from the chaos. _He's really needed by people now, isn't he?_

"Shara; there you are." I turned. _Feels like I haven't heard that voice forever!_ "Baki-sensei!" I yelped, trying to get to my feet quickly but collapsing again in pain. "Owwtch..Sorry, Sensei." "It's all right. All of you have been through the wringer, it looks like."

"But it doesn't matter," I replied vehemently. "We saved Ga-the Kazekage-sama, so it was all worth it." "Yes. I agree. The five of you did a wonderful job. Although it is upsetting that we lost Elder Chiyo-sama." I nodded regretfully. "Yes, Sensei. I agree."

"I just wanted to say, well done. I don't know what we would've done if we lost Gaara so soon. He's shaping up to be a brilliant Kazekage."

"Yes, Sensei."

………………………….

We buried Elder Chiyo, then left to begin the journey back to Sunagakure. We got to the gate relatively fast, and then it was time to say our goodbyes to the ninja of Konoha.

Temari, Kankuro, Gaara and I stood, kind of staring at the Leaf nin, all of us awkward.

Naruto, typically, spoke up first. "Well, uh…uuuuusually this is where you shake hands and stuff…but I'm no good at that kind of thing, so-"

He broke off. I smiled. Gaara had extended his hand.

"Uh-uh-" The loudmouth was obviously flustered, so the redhead decided to help him along. Thin trails of sand slithered over to Naruto's hand, helping it along. He smiled in a peaceful kind of way, and they shook hands.

I saw something like a smile on Gaara's face as well. _Hopefully, we'll be seeing that sight more often,_ I hoped.

Tenten and I hugged each other, grinning and promising to write. I let go before I could be reduced to a sniveling pile of mush, and bowed to the Konoha shinobi. "Thank all of you so much," I said gratefully. "We couldn't have done it without you."

"Hey, no problem!" Naruto chirped cheerfully. "I just hope we don't have to do anything like that ever again," Sakura added; speaking for all of us, I'm sure.

We watched the Konohagakure ninja head off, then turned back to Suna.

I went immediately for my parent's house-I was planning on taking a nice, _long_ nap-but was pounced on five feet from the door by Ikaru.

"Shara-sama!!" he yelped. "Why do I always get left behind when all the exciting stuff's going on?!"

"Exciting?" I repeated dryly. "I doubt you'd say the same if you were on the mission with us, Ikaru-kun. Besides, you aren't even a Chunin yet." "Almost!" he yelled stubbornly. "The exams are next week! You could've at least told me what was going on! I was worried about you, y'know?!" "…I'm sorry. I won't do that again."

"I'm just glad everyone's okay, y'know?" "Yeah. Now, don't you have someone _else_ to annoy?"

He grinned. "Nope."

"Well, find someone. With all the racket you've made, there's no way I'll get inside without being bombarded by my parents." "Oops. So what'll you do?"

I gave him a look. "I'll either go through the window, or sleep on the roof. I am _taking_ that nap."

**To Be Concluded….**


	40. Chapter 40: Can You Say Awkward?

Disclaimer: One more time, Shara-chan!!

Shara: As long as it'll shut you up.

Me:…(She's kind of irritated with me. Thanks to me, she says, she'll be forever known as the kunoichi who threw an epic temper tantrum.)

Shara: SkywardShadow doesn't own Naruto or any of the characters in it. Said author _does_ own Ikaru-kun and myself…but I suppose there are worse authors to be owned by.

Me: Aww, shucks. That was actually something resembling a compliment!

Shara: Don't let it go to your head.

**A/N: I now proudly present the final chapter of Wanderer of the Sand. Hope you enjoy. -SS**

**Wanderer of the Sand**

**Final Chapter (XL): Can You Say Awkward?**

………………………**.**

_Sixteen,_ I thought, staring at the sky from my usual rooftop. _Sixteen. Why do people think it's so great? Just feels like another pointless birthday to me…_

It was a few weeks after Gaara's return, and I hadn't seen or heard from him once in that time. _Which makes sense,_ I reasoned for the hundredth time. _He __**is**__ the Kazekage, and he just got back from…well, the dead. So he's got to be insanely busy._

On a happier note, Ikaru had finally made Chunin. He was bouncing around Suna for weeks in excitement, and nobody had the heart-or the energy-to stop him.

"Hey, Shara-kun."

I turned around. "Temari-san?" _What's she doing on the roof??_

To my growing surprise, she sat down next to me. "What's up?" she asked casually. "Um..I'm…staring at the sky, Temari-san," I said lamely. "Why?"

She shrugged. "Haven't seen you around much." "We haven't had any new missions lately," I pointed out. She shrugged again. "You didn't want to see..someone?"

I eyed her carefully. _How much does she know?_ "I'm not sure what you mean."

She thwacked me upside the head. Lightly. "Oh, quit acting casual. You're no good at it; I am _certainly_ no good at it, so let's stop embarrassing ourselves, hm? Give it to me straight-you like Gaara, don't you?"

I gulped, feeling my face go red. That was abrupt. _What the..?! What kind of questioning method is that?!_ "I-of course, Temari-san. He's the Kazekage. I _have_ to like him. I mean-not that I don't, anyway, but-wait, that came out wrong-I meant-" _Oh, brilliant. Now of all times I start babbling.._

She laughed. "Not that that's not answer enough, but c'mon. Say it-do you like him? Ah, heck-do you _love_ him? There, now you can't escape. It's a simple yes-or-no question." Her face-as well as mine-was scarlet. _What a question. What a stupid, cheesy, ridiculous question…_

_but…_

I thought about it. The answer sat in years passed-in a little girl and boy, as friends, away from the rest. In a stupid girl who had attacked the most powerful man in her village to stand up for that friend. In some strange twist of coincidence or life that brought them back to the same place years later. In someone who had watched from afar, hoping that the boy would gain the trust of his people.

In the girl who felt as if she was being shredded when the boy died, and was willing to die as well (_not_ that that was Plan A..) if it would give him another chance.

When I thought about it like that, it was just mortifying; it made me sound like a cross between some shero and an idiot with a ridiculous crush.

But, in an odd way, it made the answer clear. An answer I never thought I would be giving to the kunoichi who had once hated me, in the village I'd thought I would never see again.

"…Yes," I mumbled.

"What was that?!" she asked, raising her voice. I sighed. _I __**knew**__ she was evil…_

But really, I'd been _born_ an idiot. By that logic, it wasn't like I had any dignity left to lose.

Besides, what was there to be ashamed of?

I half-smiled embarrassedly. "Yes, I 'love' him. Happy? And _why_ do you ask?" _Please, oh please change the subject…_

"…HAA!!!" I jumped as Temari let out a crow of laughter. "I _knew_ it! Jeez, God forbid you'd ever _say_ anything-it was driving me crazy! But I _knew_ it!" An evil, evil grin came over her face. "I also _knew_ that that would work."

"That…? What..?"

A horrible realization hit me. "Oh, no," I croaked. "Temari-san, you _didn't_." The grin widened. "Oh, but I _did_. See for yourself."

I felt a slight breeze at my back, and whipped around to see a certain redhead who had materialized in sand behind me.

"No-you-where-?!" I yelped, horrified. Temari looked like she wanted to start cackling again. "He's been right below the roof, listening," she explained triumphantly. "I had a gut feeling about you two; but you must be the most tight-lipped person on the planet besides him, so I had to step in and play matchmaker. _Don't_ force me to do it again."

"T-Temari-san!?!" I squawked. "Why-_why_-?!" It was impossible to form sentences.

She just grinned again, looking very pleased with herself. "Because.…let's just say, I thought it was a good idea. Anyway, I guess I had better leave you two alone." She winked and left.

_Note to self: find out what she's afraid of and exploit that fear as soon as possible.._"Hn?" Gaara was giving me a questioning look; I had accidentally been mumbling to myself. "N-nothing," I stuttered. He sat next to me awkwardly. My face was burning up. I wished to be fighting Deidara, training with Baki-sensei, teaching Ikaru-_anywhere_ but here, now.

But I had gotten myself into this mess by falling for a trap, and now I had to get out of it.

_Get out of it, hn? Do you even __**want**__ to??_

_Shut it. This is ridiculous; I have to think up an excuse.._

_Oh, please. Haven't you been hiding long enough?_

_No; I would gladly hide right about now…_

_Whatever. __**Say something**__!!_

"I, uh-" I stopped. What could I say? _Think, Shara, think!!_

"I….sorry," I said softly. "S-sorry you had to…um, hear-_that_. It's, um-nothing, so-I mean-just don't take it too seriously, o-okay?" _Oh, sure. __**That's**__ going to work._

"'Don't take it too seriously'?" he repeated in his low voice, staring out into space. _Is he blushing?_ "Really. You want me to just disregard that." As usual, it didn't sound like a question.

"Well-yes." "What I heard wasn't exactly easy to ignore, you know."

I flinched at that reply. "R-right." I was quivering where I sat. _How in the Five Great Shinobi Nations do I get out of this?!_ If there was ever a time I wanted the world to end, it would be now.

"…Temari told me." _Huh?_ "Um-about what, exactly?" _I have a bad feeling about this._

He looked me in the eye; the heat in my face went up by about 500 degrees. "About what happened after…after.." He hesitated. "After..you died?" I offered, biting my tongue at the memories. _Lord, I was being such a-_ "Yes." It was obviously not the most comfortable subject; after all, how must it feel to know that you died? And that someone else gave their own life to save yours?

"You shouldn't feel guilty, Gaara-sama," I said quickly. "You didn't ask Elder Chiyo to sacrifice herself. And, well, we all wanted you back. It's terrible that we lost her, but I-we weren't going to complain." That sounded horrible and cold. Why wasn't my mouth working properly?!

"It's not that," he sighed. "Although it isn't exactly a pleasant memory to have, I'm very grateful to Elder Chiyo. And in a way, I suppose I should be grateful to the Akatsuki as well." He grinned crookedly; I tried to ignore my heart, which was now pounding a mile a minute. "After all, thanks to them, I am rid of the Shukaku." I couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not. "That's wonderful," I managed lamely. "You-you can sleep now, right?" Mentally I banged my head into whatever hard surface my imagination could come up with. _Stupid thing to say! Stupid, stupid, stupid! For Kami's sake; __**keep your mouth shut**__!_

"Yes." Amusement. "Although I doubt I'll be able to get into the habit. But that's not what I was getting at. My sister told me about what she called your 'emotional little speech.' Apparently she heard it from one of the Leaf ninja." _**Whaatt**__?!! Who was it!? Tenten?! Naruto?! That loudmouth, I will __**kill**__ him if he said anything-_

I was so busy plotting death threats for the poor loudmouthed scapegoat that I completely missed my companion's next words. "Oh-I'm sorry. What?"

"To get to the point-" "I lost my temper," I groaned, cutting him off again. _Anything to distract him! "_It's just that you were dead, and it wouldn't have happened if the elders hadn't put the Shukaku inside of you for their own selfish reasons! I hated it; your life sucked and then you got killed and…and…I'm just babbling now, aren't I." _Way to get worked up, like the dolt you are!_ _Stupidstupidstupidstupid…!!!_

This was swiftly becoming the longest and most uncomfortable conversation I had ever had in my life. Dragging on and on. _Congrats, Shara; you've officially reached a whole new level of stupidity._ "Sorry for interrupting. Go ahead," I uttered.

"…"

"…" …_Guess I blew that one.._

"Oh for-you two are _hopeless_!" An exasperated groan came from behind me, and before I could react I was shoved unceremoniously-almost off the roof.

I shot bolt upright. Temari was standing on the roof, looking impatient beyond belief. _That evil, sadistic, meddling…_

"Will you just-_do_ something already?!" she demanded. "Kami, this has got to be the most boring, embarrassing to watch-"

For whatever reason, something like temper flared. Defiance."If I 'do something', will you go _away_?!" I snapped. _..Yes, I have finally lost it. I just challenged Temari. I have signed my own death warrant…_

However, she just smirked. "Fine! But I'll be standing here forever, because-"

I gave her no chance to finish. I turned and did something I had wanted to do for years.

This also proved my stupidity, beyond a reasonable doubt. Or did it? Maybe Temari's 'encouragement' was just my perfect excuse.

I kissed him.

……………………………..

It felt like forever had gone by when I pulled away.

"Satisfied?!" I retorted, fully prepared to revel in the blonde kunoichi's shock.

But naturally, she was wearing a broad and wicked grin. A bit pink, to be sure, but the expression was one of someone whose master plan of evil had just worked brilliantly.

…_She planned that all along,_ I realized, slowly feeling another layer of humiliation settle on top of me. In less than one hour, I had fallen for more traps than I had before in 16 years. _Great. She's a freakin' criminal genius. _

She saluted us, chirped a "For real, this time" and strutted off, no doubt to report the whole scene to Kankuro. _Oh,_ _wonderful._

I slowly turned back around, coming face-to-face with Gaara, whose face was nearly the same color as his hair.

"One question," he stated quietly, not looking at me. "Was that because you wanted to, or just to get rid of my sister?"

The Sand Siblings were apparently experts on asking the most awkward questions known to the world. _Just my luck, hn?_

".." I paused, then smiled. An embarrassed, awkward, but genuine smile. _Ah, heck. Like he doesn't already know the answer. _

Aside from that, I was sick of keeping my mouth shut.

"Honestly..? It was because I wanted to."

There. I had said it. _This is the dumbest talk I have ever gotten myself into._

Now, the question was-would he run away thinking I was insane, or would he validate the often-made claim that I was an imbecile?

Actually, it was neither.

I caught a brief glimpse of a rare smile before he kissed me back.

I was one ecstatic moron, I'll tell you that.

……………………….

It's been, oh, maybe a month and a half since then.

I'm happy to say that there have been no more kidnappings, particularly of our Kazekage-who is becoming more popular by the day; he's essentially got his own fanclub now.

Team Baki's been on three C-ranked missions; nothing major, but it kept us from getting too restless. I guess the years of wandering I did rubbed off-but rest assured, I _love_ home. Suna.

Relations with my parents have…well, not improved. I doubt they ever will. But Mother hasn't cracked and kicked me out of the house yet (not that it would matter too much; I usually sleep on the roof anyway) and Father actually _grunted_ at me to pass the salt at dinner last night, so maybe that's something. It's a form of communication, right…? Ah, who am I kidding. My father is hopeless. But hey, that's life.

Ikaru is progressing faster than ever; if this keeps up, the kid'll be a Jonin before hitting 16. He's currently working on his own fire-style jutsu-but he has been ordered to experiment with it _outside_ the village, after that unfortunate incident involving Kankuro's puppets. I had to step in to keep my student from being killed by the irate older shinobi.

Courtesy of an insider's information, Temari found a large, hairy spider in her bed soon after her matchmaking 'attempt'. Her shrieks woke everyone up. She guessed who did it and pummeled me into a bloody, bloody pulp. Other than that, we get along. At least, we haven't killed each other (yet).

Purely out of boredom, Baki-sensei challenged me to a match the other week. Let's just say, it _still_ hurts to move. Some things never change.

Tenten and I have kept in touch. I think she might be going out with Neji; but I am no expert. As I'm sure you all know.

A new batch of twelve-year-olds are going to start ninja training at Suna's Academy next month. I'm pretty excited; though I hope any new students I may get are quieter than Ikaru. Not that it's exactly _hard_ to be quieter than Ikaru.

And…

Myself and Gaara maintain a sweet (albeit sometimes awkward-hey, come on, the emotional stuff is not something we're used to-) relationship. It's not exactly public knowledge; partly because I would never be able to escape the fangirls, and partly because-well, neither of us are the type to trumpet the news to the world.

But it's all good. We're both happy; I for one am constantly over the moon. Sappy, yes. Silly, yes. True, also yes.

So this is the way the dice have been rolled for my hectic life. I've dodged the dice, tripped over them, been hit in the head with them, and simply let them fall. It's been chaos, sure, but I think it's all turned out the way it was supposed to.

I'm home, I'm in love, and I haven't been evicted by my parents (which is progress).

I'm happy.

So yeah, I consider this the good life. The best possible outcome.

Think it's stupid? Possibly.

Go ahead and call me an idiot (hey, that's the reputation I've built up).

After all, it wouldn't be the first time.

**-Wanderer of the Sand:**

**The End.-**

**A/N: It's…over. –sobs-**

**Did that chapter just drag on and on? Did you hate it? I suck at romance. –groan- Gomenasai.**

**_Question: an epilogue was suggested, do you think that a good idea? _Input on that would be greatly helpful; if enough people want, I might do one. But aside from that…**

**This officially marks the end of Wanderer of the Sand.**

**On that note…**

_**A HUGE AND HEARTFELT THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING:**_

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**And finally, DeathFruitsMaximumSecrets (DeathMax-kun came up with Ikaru; kudos!)**

……**.**

**Phew, that was a long list. Thank you all so, so much! ConCrit, 'please update's, just plain kind words-you guys did it all. I cannot tell you how much that means to me. So, thanks a million!! :D**

**Shara: Yes. Thank you. –bows-**

**Me:…You have no enthusiasm. **

**Anyway. I've said it a thousand times, but…I really hope you enjoyed WOTS. It was my first Naruto fic, and I am indebted to those of you kind enough to stick with it. –bows-**

**Have a nice day. :)**

**Over and out-**

**SkywardShadow**


	41. Epilogue

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto! Just Shara, Ikaru and…-grin- Taiya and Naaran. 

Shara: What are you grinning for, fickle author?! You told them it was over!

Me:…Well, I just love this story so much, and a few people seemed to want an epilogue, so..

Shara: Whatever.

**A/N: Okay, I just couldn't resist! Epilogue time! Then it's **_**really**_** over. Promise. -.-;;**

**This epilogue is dedicated to haruko; thanks for reviewing!! Also to Silver Eternity and yeji301; thanks for Favoriting!!**

_**And of course, to all the glorious and wonderful readers and reviewers. You guys are the best!! :D**_

**Final note-gomenasai, **_**GOMENASAI**_** for taking so long! –sweatdrop-**

**Hope you enjoy!! –SS**

**Wanderer of the Sand: Epilogue**

…………………………

_**13 Years Later**_

"Jonin! Jonin! _Whoo-hooo_!!"

"Ikaru-kun, if you wake Taiya up, I will be forced to take you out of commission."

"Sorry, Shara-sama. I'm just excited, y'know?!"

I grinned. Exasperatedly, but still. "I guess you have a point. Just _please_ don't wake Taiya up. She sleeps too little as is." Ikaru is just a difficult person to steal thunder from.

My former student continued to do a mute but joyful little dance in the middle of the room. I shook my head. _Guess even manly pride can be set aside when one makes Jonin.._

Right about now, you're probably wondering what the heck is going on. Where do I start…

First things first. I am going to be 29 years old next month. Time can be a very tiresome concept when it's moving against you, hn?

Ikaru is recently 26, and just made Jonin rank (not that you needed _me_ to tell you..) after an extreme display of skill in his last mission. He perfected his fire-style jutsu after a month or so, and put it to good use against a rogue ninja the other day (BBQ, anyone?). He probably could have made Jonin a while ago, actually, but he seemed happy where he was. My view is that he worked so hard to attain Chunin, he wanted to enjoy his success instead of just leaping ahead.

I am..married. (For some reason, that sounded ridiculous; I guess I never envisioned myself as such..) Trust me, I was as shocked as anyone when _that_ happened. Needless to say, I tripped all over myself-literally and figuratively-before choking out a shell-shocked but ecstatic "yes". For once, though, I was not the _only_ one embarrassed and making a complete fool out of myself in that situation. Which makes sense; it's not something that happens every day.

I also have children. (Again, not something I could have envisioned. At all. Ever.) Naaran is nearly seven, with a sometimes unhealthy fascination with learning sand-style jutsu like his father. If I forget about all the times he's broken something 'practicing'-be it furniture…his or someone else's bones…a _building_ (I kid you not)…-he's actually pretty good at it. He's all fired up to be the sixth Kazekage, never mind that he and Gaara are both still young.

He's got brown hair and striking turquoise eyes, with the barest trace of black shadows around them. I guess there are some things that just leave a mark, hn? And what a little ball of energy he can be. I started thinking Ikaru was rubbing off on him when he was very small, and now that's it's too late to change it I am sure of it. Ah, well.

Four-year-old Taiya, on the other hand, is the quietest little thing you will ever set eyes on. She's a redhead, but her eyes are green like mine. Not that I can be sure, but she looks like she's going to be pretty dang smart when she gets older. That or dangerous-half the time, when Naaran goes and teases her, _he's_ the one who ends up bawling. Kind of scary, when I think about it.

Some found it surprising, but Gaara's actually a wonderful father. I was kind of worried about him for a while, though; he nearly went into cardiac arrest when Naaran was born. His brother had to smack him in the face to remind him to breathe.

A bit of advice on surviving parenthood: it's a huge help if your husband doesn't sleep to begin with. It makes midnight cries by the baby a lot easier.

But I don't want to make it sound as if parenting is some kind of nightmare! I love Taiya and Naaran with everything I have. It was just a lot of very confusing work at first.

_Anyway._

The Academy has doubled its students consistently for years now. I've helped a handful of Genin along, but most of them still prefer Temari or Kankuro. The most popular sensei, though, is Ikaru himself, who is somehow managing to juggle normal shinobi duties _and_ a girlfriend with teaching 15-yes, you read that right: _15_-students by himself. He's stretched so thin; I am in awe of his skills.

I'm hoping to become the leader of a Genin team in the future; maybe when my own kids are old enough to spend a day alone without killing themselves or each other. It'd be a lot of multitasking, but what's life if you don't take what opportunities you can?

Since Gaara's ascension to Kazekage, relations between Suna and Konoha have reached their highest point in history. It was a peak that we couldn't have imagined hitting back during the still-infamous _Operation: Destroy Konoha_. Of course, the loudmo-ahem, Naruto-being Leaf's Sixth Hokage probably helps.

This makes it a thousand times safer and easier for certain Leaf ninja to come and visit with certain Sand ninja. Aforementioned Leaf ninja often being a newly engaged Tenten and her fiancé-three guesses who _that_ is!

"Mom?"

I blink out of my reverie and look into the startlingly green eyes of my daughter, who is holding a worn teddy bear around the neck. "..Taiya?" I say, shooting Ikaru a death gaze. Taiya doesn't sleep often (wonder where _that_ trait came from..), so I don't exactly delight in people waking her up when she finally does. "Did Ikaru-kun wake you up?"

She shakes her head vigorously. "Nii-san."

A girl of few words, like her father. "What about him?" I inquire. "Was _he_ bothering you?"

Another shake of the head. "Something..diff'rent. C'mere and look."

She walks back to Naaran's room, myself following apprehensively. _Did he break a hole in the wall again? Did he break down the __**entire**__ wall again? Or worse?_

She pushes open the already slightly ajar door with agonizing slowness. "See?"

..Uh…._yeah_.

"I'm guessing that's not normal?" Ikaru states with a nervous laugh.

Well, hmm, which bit is he specifying?

Maybe it's the sand _stalactites_ hanging precariously from the ceiling, like they could fall and impale a small child at any moment.

Perhaps it's coordinating sand _stalagmites_ jutting up from the floor, making the room a veritable minefield?

Or maybe-just _maybe_-it's the cocoon-looking things scattered everywhere; about two feet high, sandy-looking and suspiciously familiar. The cocoons have bits of stuffing falling out of them at lazy intervals, and I notice that my son's pillow is absent from his bed.

_Hmm._

Not normal?

You can go ahead and make that call.

Over the years, I've grown (a tad) better at not panicking. I look Naaran in the eye with icy calm and a silent question.

His cheerful expression falters a bit. I can almost see the word '_**Busted**_' running through his head.

"I was bored," he says, trying to sound breezy about the whole thing. "And I wanted to practice. And my room was boring, Mom; you gotta admit it. This makes it look cool! Different!"

_Oh, it's __**different**__ all right._ "Naaran, I believe I've mentioned before that the Sand Coffin is really not a jutsu you should be practicing on a daily basis," I point out. "Remember how exhausted it makes you? It's supposed to be for emergencies. Any of this ringing a bell?"

He nods, gulping.

"And has it occurred to you that keeping the form of all this sand intact gulps down your chakra?"

"Oh, yeah…"

'_Oh yeah', indeed._

"I guess I could take it down," he says quickly. "Good idea," I agree, half-smiling. What're you going to do, right? If this is the worst he can dish out, I should count my blessings. I remember my meeting with Naruto's kid and almost shudder. What a little fireball _she_ was.

"Mom.."

"What is it, Taiya?"

"Daddy's home," she says, looking me squarely in the eye.

I notice something odd in her gaze, like a flash of color that is definitely not green-maybe yellow, or black?-but it's gone in less than a split second.

I hear the door open. _Gaara's home._

Thoughts of insignificant colors and odd talents are temporarily pushed from my mind; all that remains is a small mental note to tell Gaara about his son's.._fascinating_ room makeover.

I turn to greet the main member of my first real family, leaving the sandy mess at my back with a smile on my face.

**-(Okay, this is really the) End-**

**A/N: Again, sorry it took so long…inspiration was deserting me for awhile there..**

**And on the subject of apologies, gomenasai if I fulfilled my worst fears and destroyed 40 chapters with a totally crappy epilogue. -.-;;**

**I wish you all the best of days, and let me thank you one last time for reading this story. I am honored to have met (figuratively, that is) such nice people! –bows-**

**Sayonara!**

**-SkywardShadow**


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